Sonic Concepts
by Exploder
Summary: Sonic and Tails have fought Robotnik repeatedly for many years. But when another human is accidentally teleported onto Mobius, he finds that he may have to break up this status quo in order to get back to Earth.
1. Prologue

Very well, let's get this started. I will do my best to write, though don't expect perfection. Constructive criticism is welcome and encouraged. If there is anything you believe can be improved, please point it out.

Also, big thanks to SuperHyperMario128III for his support.

Enjoy.

**Prologue**

"There has to be a way," the human said, prancing around nervously. "There has to be someone still that-"

"There aren't," Sonic the Hedgehog replied as he shook his head, sounding utterly defeated. "I checked. I'm sorry. This is the only thing we can do now."

The hedgehog glanced at Doctor Robotnik, who knelt on the floor, formerly powerful, now powerless. There wasn't a hint of emotion on his face. If he felt any fear like most people would in his position, he did not show it.

The other man, who was carrying a pistol in his holster, stopped moving, silently thinking about what Sonic had proposed. What he believed in. The man decided he did not agree.

"No," he spoke, shaking his head ferociously. "It isn't." The man pulled out his Smith & Wesson as he walked towards Robotnik from behind, trigger in finger. "I'm sorry, Sonic."

As he brought up his weapon to Robotnik's head, just a foot away, Sonic rushed towards the two humans with horror in his eyes. "No! Wait!" He came in physical contact with the shooter just as a loud gunshot was heard.


	2. Chapter 1: First Thing First

**Chapter 1: First Thing First**

It was supposed to be a short, quick stroll. Of course, that's what Sonic the Hedgehog always felt it was like. To other mobians, it was more like a giant trek. The spiky blue hedgehog wasn't called "the fastest thing alive" for nothing. His tremendous speed nearing that of sound, coupled with his apparently unlimited stamina and the heroic deeds for which he had used his powers in the past, had earned him much adoration, and therefore, attention, from most of the planet.

But however much Sonic liked, or at least didn't mind it, sometimes he still had to have some private time on his own, just for a while. The crowds got overwhelming sometimes. And this "stroll" through the forest was the perfect way to do it. It wasn't just the speed at which he normally went, but also the location. If his speed somehow wasn't enough to stop others, except maybe his friend Tails, from following him, the thickness of the woods would.

Not to mention, the distance, or lack of it, between the trees made Sonic feel it was also a nice way for him to hone his reflexes and agility. The hedgehog wasn't one to sit still, physically or mentally – he wanted to continue training himself. And nature had provided the perfect place for him.

_Wow, I can't think of enough good things about this place!_

Sonic the Hedgehog zipped between the trees and kicked up leaves and dust in his wake. He loved every second of it – he knew that his time spent here was generally too short to be measured in minutes. He wished it was. What he did not know was that for the first time, it would be – but not in the way he expected it.

Currently, Sonic's personal record for clearing this forest was about ninety seconds. Most mobians would probably take an hour to go through the exact same path. Sonic wanted to cut that down to at least eighty today.

And he would have, if it weren't for the sudden burst of light somewhere in front of him that was so bright he barely had enough time to stop himself from running straight into one of the thick trees as he was blinded by it.

The hedgehog came to a halt, but not so fast as to cause inertia to rattle him apart. He thanked his lucky stars that his self-training had been sufficient to prevent either of those disasters from happening to him. On the other hand, he also grumbled internally that he would not be setting his new record today. Now, he just wanted to find out what had so rudely interrupted his daily routine. He shook his head and scanned the area in front of him.

Sonic the Hedgehog didn't normally feel scared, but he came incredibly close as his green eyes locked onto a terrifyingly familiar silhouette about 60 feet ahead. The shape of a non-mobian being he and most mobians had come to associate only with Doctor Ivo Robotnik, the mad, overweight scientist with whom Sonic fought regularly. He had called himself…what was it…human?

And the shape of the being in front definitely looked human. It was much, much thinner than Robotnik, but was about the same in height, stance, and quite possibly, mindset as well.

The teenage hedgehog considered that last point. On one hand, he wanted to take maximum caution with all possible threats. On the other, he did not want to make any reckless decisions. He didn't know a thing about this human yet.

_Let's just watch this guy a bit more_, he finally decided. Yes, that's what probably Tails would do as well. He learned a lot from that kid.

It was getting dark, but Sonic was able to make out more details about this stranger, who thankfully had his back faced towards him. He (Not that Sonic knew what a female human looked like) was wearing a tan uniform and vest, probably armor, with the large letters "FBI" written on the back. There was a helmet of the same color on his head, making it difficult to see his face or hair. His outfit overall seemed very bulky and loaded with gear he did not recognize. He appeared to be holding something up in front of himself though.

Sonic shifted his position circling around a bit to the stranger's approximate 3 o'clock to see what it was. It happened to be a rifle. But he also appeared to be staring at something in front of him, on the ground. Sonic looked closer at it, and-

The hedgehog almost fell and made a lot of noise due to his startled reaction. _No way._ It was a Chaos Emerald. Not only that, it was a green one, meaning he had never seen it before. Heck, weren't emeralds supposed to be green by definition anyway?

Before Sonic could reevaluate his entire view of this guy, the stranger began to move. He took a few steps a back away from the emerald. Sonic did the same. His blue fur would certainly stand out among this green, so the only way to stay hidden was to not be in the human's line of sight at all.

_What's he doing?_

The man raised his rifle, tinkered with it a little, and for some strange reason, aimed at the Emerald, and fired off a shot.

As nothing happened, the human fired several more shots at the Emerald, each having no more effect than the first. Apparently concluding it was futile, Sonic watched as he frowned and slung his weapon on his back, before picking up the Emerald and stuffing it into a front pocket. He then began to walk towards the forest's nearest exit…but did this guy know where he was headed?

The strange act this human had just performed led Sonic to reconsider who he was and what he knew. While not an expert on the gemstones, Sonic knew that subjecting a Chaos Emerald to deliberate damage like this generally led to wild, unpredictable consequences, anywhere between getting blown up or teleported. If the man were allied with Robotnik, certainly he would have told him.

But what about that bright flash just now?

Realizing that simply wondering about this wouldn't get him anywhere, Sonic began to trail the human, ready to attack at full speed should he try anything.

* * *

><p>Something was wrong. It had just been nighttime in Los Angeles, and the sun here was only beginning to set. FBI Special Agent Alan Doherty wondered what the chances of being teleported to an exact spot of land in the massive Pacific Ocean rather than just drowning were, compared to surviving teleportation, or even being teleported, in the first place. Was it absurd to think the former was less likely?<p>

The forest ended as it led to a rocky path between a small ravine. Could this be a sign of civilization? Alan began to walk faster now, both apprehensive and excited at the same time.

His wishes were finally answered as he saw, in the distance, lights. They came from what seemed like small houses. A village. Alan progressed further as he contemplated the possibilities. The first one was that he could get some shelter here for the night, maybe some food, and later on they could take him to the nearest airport or embassy.

The second one was that the locals could be hostile to him for whatever reason, and he had to be ready to defend himself. He reached his hand behind to confirm he could easily pull his rifle out at the trigger should he have to.

The houses were already just 10 meters in front of him. He stopped moving.

"Excuse me?" Doherty called out, hoping it was the right balance between being loud and polite. "Is anyone there?"

After about 10 seconds, Alan saw some occupants emerge from the two nearest houses. They began walking towards him, and he towards them, but both stopped short as they realized something very wrong with one another.

_I guess I'm not in the Pacific after all. Either that or they missed a spot._

Alan Doherty was aghast to see the people standing in front of him weren't human at all, even if they appeared to be from far away, since they wore clothes and lived in houses. The four standing before Doherty were what looked like two dogs and bears, all between 4 and 5 feet in height.

Even more worrisome than that, however, were the looks on their faces. They started out appearing shocked, and after they briefly turned to look at each other and then back at the human, they were now less than friendly. More like downright antagonistic.

_Not good. _The FBI agent instinctively stepped backward before the tense silence finally broke.

"Get him!" One of the dogs barked, half literally, in a gruff male voice and, most surprisingly, clear English. The accent even sounded American. The talking animals suddenly produced knives and sticks from their backs, and they began to charge towards the hated human.

Doherty already expected something like this to happen, albeit not with animals that could talk and hold weapons. He took less than a second to take his own weapon out from behind and have it aiming straight at the incoming threats. He did _not _want to shoot them for fear of all the possible negative consequences that could occur now, especially in an apparently anti-human place – _planet? _- but he would if it meant staying alive.

"Stop!" Doherty shouted, partly out of fear, partly out of authority, even if he had none here – it was merely a force of habit. Fortunately, the dogs, bears and the other animals that have come out from the rest of the village seemed to recognize the weapon, and they ceased their charging, but not their hateful glaring.

The situation was far from over. The villagers, now numbering in the dozens, could possibly surround Alan and most certainly hack or stab him to death before he could shoot them all. But no one was moving, not yet. Alan realized there was the chance to negotiate, having heard the dog and others shout in his own language. No time to be amazed at that now though. For the moment, Alan said the only thing that came to mind.

"What the hell's going on here?"

* * *

><p>Hidden ten meters or so within some bushes, Sonic observed the unraveling crisis with concern. Even if this guy were really working for Robotnik, Sonic did not have the heart to just let him be slaughtered like this, by a group of villagers which have admittedly suffered quite a bit from their only encounter with a human last time.<p>

Sonic suddenly realized that, from the perspective of the human, he must now think mobians were murderous freaks - much in the exact same way mobians thought humans were murderous freaks as well. But the human was clearly trying to be diplomatic, something Robotnik would never do.

_I have to act _now.

* * *

><p>"You're with Robotnik, don't try to fool us!" The largest dog in the group shouted. His mouth seemed big enough to take all of Alan's face off in one bite.<p>

"Who's Robotnik?" Alan asked earnestly, trying not to be rude. "I just came here, landed here, not ten minutes ago-"

"Wow, these humans really don't learn, huh? Move in, boys. You think we're scared of guns? You see how many of us there are? Maybe after this he'll finally get that he's a mechanical genius but a tactical moron."

"What? Goddammit-"

Alan was about to fire of a warning shot, perhaps more than one, to show that maybe _they _were morons, but this was when Sonic intervened. Having had just ten meters to cover meant he could not achieve full speed, but he still managed to reach a speed few, if any mobians can reach as he slipped straight between the human and the villagers, as the latter had been advancing ever so closer to their target. Everyone stopped moving at this sight, except Sonic, who looped around before sliding to a stop in front of the surprised villagers and the even more stunned Alan Doherty.

"Guys," the hedgehog began, putting on a confident, assuring grin for all to see. "I thought handling humans was _my _job."

"Sonic?" One of the villagers called out in surprise. "Look, we're all grateful for how you've helped us against Robotnik last time, but we better just take this lackey of his out! Better safe than sorry!"

"Like I said, I'll handle it. Don't worry. I mean, have I ever let you guys down when it came to dealing with Robotnik? Anytime? Anywhere? Let me have this guy, I promise you'll never have trouble with him again."

The villagers appeared to consider the offer for a while. "All right Sonic, you made your point. You can have him, and we never want to see him again. Humans are just bad news."

Meanwhile, Alan himself was wondering about the real bad news coming up for him, and hoped no one noticed him gulped. Whoever this Robotnik was must be rather powerful indeed to need someone that can move this fast to stop him, and he hoped to hell this Sonic would realize this would be quite a mismatch if he were to fight him. The hedgehog began to whisk him away, fortunately at a speed that won't break him apart.

"Got my word on that," Sonic promised the others, "Gotta juice for now though. Thanks!" And with that, Sonic held Alan's left hand firmly and dragged him out of the village. Doherty simply hoped other places and other people – especially this hedgehog – would be friendlier. But his use of the word 'handle' earlier still troubled him…

* * *

><p>The two were in a remote location within some woods again some five minutes later, and Sonic finally stopped moving. Alan did the same. He knew it would be futile, to say the least, to try and outrun someone like this. Sonic looked around for a bit before turning his full attention onto Alan, and both man and hedgehog engaged in a staring contest of sorts.<p>

Sonic wanted to get a good detailed look at the guy, but there was something that got in the way of that, and it wasn't the now absent sun. "Hey, uh, could you take off your helmet? Just for a while, please? Thanks," Sonic finally said, and in a surprisingly friendly way too. The hedgehog decided that acting aggressively like the villagers earlier would not get him far.

Alan complied almost immediately without a word, encouraged by the friendliness of the request but still wary of what could happen if he didn't do it. With his hands already free after slinging his weapon onto his back, he loosened the fasteners under his chin, pulled the headwear off and held it by the fasteners in his left hand. He wondered how long he had already been wearing it, or if it was even possible to calculate that, given the prior events.

Sonic finally got a proper look at the second ever human he'd seen. Alan Doherty had brown, short and tidy hair, a face of average height, flat jaw, and a pair of steel blue eyes. In short, he appeared totally different from the first ever human Sonic had met, just as expected.

Alan crossed his arms as he examined the mobian carefully himself. Sonic was unlike anyone or anything he'd ever seen. Some three feet tall, blue fur, tan chest and muzzle, large green eyes, proportions he could only describe as 'interesting' or 'unusual' which meant his hands, feet, eyes and head were actually quite big relative to his body. He didn't wear any clothes outside of white gloves and red shoes. Perhaps the fur was a good enough substitute?

And with that, the cross-staring was over, since neither person was a biologist in any way. It was time to talk. The hedgehog began first.

"So, where're you from?"

Alan hesitated at first. "Um…Earth. Unless we're still there, which I'm guessing we're not."

"Nope! Welcome to Mobius," Sonic stretched out his arms to his sides as an indication of a greeting. Alan found it remarkable that the body language here was completely understandable to him too.

"I take it this is the planet on which humans aren't welcome?" Alan dared to ask.

"Oh, uh, about that…bit of a long story."

"Who is this Robotnik guy anyway? He sounds like the reason everyone wanted to kill me."

"Doctor Ivo Robotnik. He's a mad scientist, a human also,. Really clever, really inventive, really fat…really crazy." Sonic answered, his voice becoming a bit more serious. "I've had to fight him quite a few times."

"What has he done?"

"Just to name a few, he forced whole communities into force labor to work for him at killerbot gunpoint, kidnapped my friends, threatened to destroy whole cities unless I gave up the Chaos Emeralds…speaking of which, aren't you supposed to have it?"

"Huh?" Alan looked confused. "What are you talking ab-" Then it dawned on him. Could it be? "Wait, wait. You mean this?" Alan opened up his pouch and took the emerald out. He immediately realized how that may have saved his life, given how the villagers would have added being a thief alongside his crime of being a human.

"Yeah!" Sonic said excitedly upon seeing the large gemstone. "Wow, so it is real…"

"Huh?"

"There're supposed to be seven of them, but I've only ever seen six," the hedgehog explained.

"You mean there's more than one of these things?" An incredulous Alan asked.

"Yeah. There're generally looked after by Knuckles – maybe you'll meet him later – but this seventh one had been lost for years."

"It had been on my planet for more than thirty years," Alan clarified.

Sonic was taken aback by the answer. "Wow, really? No wonder. So you know what happened to it there?"

"Not really, it spent most of its existence in a secret lab. Well, until one day when it wasn't so secret anymore, so some other, um, people tried to steal it. Forcefully. I was tasked with getting it back, and, uh, it didn't go so well, so now I'm here." Alan hoped Sonic was able to connect the dots himself.

"I see, yeah, I was about to ask you that, actually," Sonic replied, grinning again. It was apparent that Sonic had that question on his mind for a while now.

"Supposedly this emerald thing can be a new source of alternative energy or something, but all I've seen it do so far is cause explosions and teleporting people."

"Actually that's exactly why Robotnik wants them. He builds a lot of powerful weapons, and he needs the emeralds as an energy source. Or even as ammo sometimes, if I remember what Tails said right."

"Huh. Best if the ARA don't find out about that."

"Huh? Who?"

"Adabat Revolutionary Army. They're a group of guerillas that regularly attack their own government in their own country. So naturally they had to sneak into mine, ambushed the people that had the Emerald, and almost escaped with it by boat so that they can blow up their own people." He was still rather miffed over how border control and the intelligence agencies had somehow failed to detect it in the first place.

"Woah," Sonic said. "At least that's not gonna happen anymore, huh? Why were you shooting it just now?"

"I got into a close-quarters fight with one of them and he ended up shooting the thing. Caused it to go crazy or something, and it teleported me here. So I thought if I shot it again..." he trailed off with a shrug.

"No wonder. Guess it didn't work. Anyway, I guess you'll stay at Tails' place tonight. He's a genius, but don't worry, he's also my best pal. He could help you get back home."

Now that was something Doherty was hardly expecting, and he felt he should point it out. "You sound awfully trusting towards me given your experience with the only human you've ever encountered."

"Eh, actually…" Sonic thought he should finally reveal it to him. His grin disappeared again. "You know, I was actually watching you since you appeared in the forest, I happened to be there practicing my runs. You're not with Robotnik, I know that 'cause you had no idea what to do with the Emerald at all, I could tell. Then I saw you looking around like you had never been here. And I finally saw you trying to be nice with those villagers even as they wanted to take you in as their dinner." The look on Sonic's face was sincere, as far as Alan could tell. "That just kinda confirmed it, if it were Robotnik he'd just ask you to pilot a mech and threaten them with bombs over a loudspeaker or something. Subtlety ain't his thing, though to be fair, not really mine either. So, I did what I did," he finished, and his face brightened up again. "And besides, I believe in giving people a chance."

"Thank you for that," Alan said earnestly, deciding not to say how he disliked being spied on when it had helped him in this instant. "And thanks for the stay-over offer, too. Although, I don't really have a choice, huh."

"No problem," Sonic gave a thumbs up, and continued, "Well, only other place I can think of for you would be Knuckles, though he only barely trusts me and doesn't even really trust other mobians, much less Robotnik and humans, and he's generally known for being as strong as I am fast, so, yeah," Sonic said as he chuckled slightly.

"Yeah, really reassuring," Alan commented as he nodded sarcastically. "I've been up for quite a while. You think it's fine if we go there now?"

"Hey, didn't mean to rub in the 'no choice' feeling there, sorry. And yeah, we can go there now. I'm supposed to, actually, since I promised to help him out with something. I'm pretty sure he'll understand, though, considering all that's happened."

"Lead the way. Thanks again."

"Sure, come with me," Sonic gestured Alan to follow, and was glad he could do something other than stand still. He still had to control his pace, obviously, but it was better than nothing.

As they walked for a bit, Alan thought over the conversation they'd just had, and realized something. "Could I ask something?"

"I'm cool, what's on your mind?"

"How long have you known Robotnik? And fought him, and all that?"

"Oh, about ten years, give or take."

"Your years have 365 days? Each day 24 hours? Each hour 60 minutes, et cetera?"

"Yeah, that's exactly right. Wow, that's quite amazing, don't cha think?"

It was, but perhaps more amazing to Doherty was the fact that it seemed to fit something he had in mind. Although he had never heard of Robotnik, something told him he should have. This guy was apparently someone, a human, who understood the potential of the Chaos Emeralds. He remembered a rumor about how some thirty years ago, there was an accident at a lab where the emerald was supposedly being held, after one of many experiments conducted on it. Although it was never confirmed, it was said someone vanished after that. Assuming it did happen, this would mean time traveled slower on Mobius than on Earth, and Robotnik could very well be that person, still alive after all this time. If or when he got home, it was definitely something he had to check. Perhaps even before then. It was his job, after all.

"You know," Sonic spoke and paused the journey again, "all that talk, and I forgot to ask for your name. So what do I call ya?"

Alan had thought about that earlier. Should he give an alias just in case, or just admit his real name since no record of him should exist here at all? After considering how they've just talked, he made his decision.

"Special Agent Alan Doherty, FBI," he finally said. "But just Alan will do."

The two shook hands. "Sonic the Hedgehog. So let's get moving, huh? I hate standing around."


	3. Chapter 2: Two of 'em

**Chapter 2: Two of 'em**

"So Robotnik attacks pretty often?" Doherty inquired as the two continued to walk.

"Yep, guy doesn't rest. Ever. He's very determined, I can give him that."

"You said he attacks with robots, how exactly does he build so many of them over the years? Where does he get the resources?"

"He, uh," Sonic scratched his head a bit before continuing, "has the equipment formerly owned by some technological company before he took over, sorta. They let him work for them 'cause he'd expressed technical genius before. So…"

"They just let him in?"

"He wasn't really that crazy back then, well, not as much."

"What happened to them?"

Sonic shrugged, in a pretty serious manner. "No idea. No one's ever heard from them for a long time. Not sure how long, though."

"How effective are military or police efforts against him?" As he asked that, Alan wondered if it would be a good idea to meet his own mobian equivalent, their own FBI. Would they welcome or shoot him?

"Oh, to put it simply, well…" Sonic shrugged again, "that's complicated."

"Why?"

"Don't know how it is on your planet, but here, many areas don't really have a ruling government, well, not big ones. Many parts of the world are pretty self-contained, kinda small communities, only interact with each other, not much with the big nations, and only they got militaries that can challenge Robotnik," Sonic explained as quickly as he could, though his speech generally wasn't as fast as his running. "Which is why Robotnik generally doesn't go against them, only targets less the less well off areas. Quite smart, actually, if not very nice. And actually that's where we are now, by the way."

Doherty thought about it for a moment. The last time such a situation existed on Earth was probably before the rise of the British or Spanish empires. He found it a bit hard to conceive, especially on a world where such modern technology apparently exists. "So their militaries don't step in to help? At all?"

"Nah. They got colonized before, didn't like it, didn't go so well. And other than volunteers, many folks in the big countries don't support sending their own people out to the middle of nowhere to help people they don't know."

"So you took on the job instead."

"Yeah, I guess," the hedgehog replied, trying not to sound boastful. "I don't really blame them, Robotnik can be pretty scary, and he knows how to hide pretty well. I just can't stand the idea of the weak or defenseless being preyed upon, you know, and the killing…and I can run pretty fast, so I figured I could do some good with it. Hasn't been easy, but Tails and I do what we can, and sometimes Knux, when he bothers, heh."

Alan would have asked more questions, but before he could think of another, he saw that a small, flat house with large trees over it was visible, located up a small hill – the second sign of civilization he'd seen so far.

"There it is. Tails' own home and workshop. Don't worry, it's larger than it seems on the outside," Sonic assured.

"You keep calling it his home. You don't have your own?" Alan asked, eyebrows raised.

"Mmm, not really, to be honest." Sonic appeared slightly sheepish as he answered that, "though I'll explain later. Tails is probably mad at me right now, I'll go up to the door first. Oh yeah, and one more thing."

"What is it?"

"Don't let him see you unless I say you can, just in case." Alan was confused by this at first, but complied by shifting to and standing behind a tree just the right size to his left. Sonic gave a thumbs up.

And with that, the cobalt hedgehog turned and zoomed up the steps so fast Alan could have literally missed it if he blinked, and he stopped just as fast as he'd started, right at the door, and pressed the bell next to it.

Tapping his foot as he waited, Sonic was greeted fifteen seconds later as the door opened, revealing a small, orange fox who was slightly shorter than Sonic and, true to his name, had two large, furry tails. Alan could not see this from below the steps and behind the tree, however, and neither could Tails see the human. Fortunately.

"Sonic, where've you been?" The fox asked, sounding concerned, though there was no sign of impatience or anger in his young voice. "You're supposed to be here about twenty minutes ago."

"Sorry bud, I really got held up in something. Honest," Sonic spoke hurriedly, hoping it wouldn't be interpreted as an excuse, something Sonic made enough times before. "You want me to help you with the plane now?" he asked, wondering what he should with Alan in the meantime, not forgetting how Tails reacted to strangers.

"Oh, actually I solved it myself already, got one of the cranes working. Lucky for you too, since otherwise you'd be getting an earful from me right now," Tails answered cheerily. "But what were you doing out there?"

"Uh…" Sonic looked bewildered. "Look, I'll tell you, even show you, but you gotta promise to stay calm, don't overreact, okay? It's a bit…unexpected."

"Is it a guest?" There was a hint of apprehension underneath Tails' voice.

"Yeah. Again, just don't freak out or something, okay? He isn't the most typical kind." Sonic's expression was more serious than usual. Now that didn't happen often.

"Alright, I promise. Not really sure where you're going this, though."

Sonic turned his head and called for Alan. "Hey, it's alright now, come on up."

Alan, who partially overheard their conversation, moved out from behind the tree and headed up the steps slowly, keeping his stance and movements as calm as possible. He had to make a good impression and have more mobians than just Sonic friendly to him. As he neared the top, he realized the door wasn't very tall, at least by Earth standards, barely taller than himself.

At the door stood an orange fox who suddenly did not look so cheery. It was immediately apparent to Alan why he was named Tails…and why he had a look of fear on his face as he approached and stopped next to Sonic.

"Uh, Tails?" Sonic spoke again, preparing for how his friend could react.

As it was, the fox began stepping back rapidly, bumping into a couch in the process, and continued stumbling backwards – the fear on his face was still there, growing worse.

"Woah, woah!" Sonic had already gone inside even more rapidly and went around, careful not to knock anything over, up to Tails' side before he crashed into other furniture. "Don't trip yourself over, bud, don't worry, let me exp-"

"Wh-who is that? What is that? What-why-" Tails could barely get the words out due to his shuddering and deep, quick breaths. "Is he with-"

"Robotnik? No no no," Sonic hurriedly replied, "I wouldn't bring anything or anyone back that can endanger you, bud, I always make sure of that, and I made sure of it this time." Sonic was amazed at how fast he himself could talk to bring things under control.

Alan, who had not stepped through the door, was sweating. "Sonic, please don't make me look or feel bad."

"I'm not trying to, but I think you gotta do something yourself," Sonic told him as he wrapped his hand around the neck of Tails, who was almost on the verge of tears.

_He's right_, Doherty thought. It was best to make an introduction, one that makes it abundantly clear he's not like Robotnik in the way Sonic had described. He stepped forward once and said in the most authoritative voice he could muster, "My name is Alan Doherty. I got teleported onto this planet due to what you call a Chaos Emerald, and I only just ran in - no, sorry, Sonic had just run into me earlier, and I had no idea who Robotnik was until Sonic told me. He led me here because he felt it's the best place for me to be for now. From what Sonic has told me, Robotnik does not sound like someone I would want to work with or be associated with, but rather someone I would hunt. I am an FBI Special Agent, a servant of the law, at your service. And I apologize if I have frightened you."

After he finished, Tails' breathing slowed and calmed considerably. His large, sky blue eyes continued to stare at the human. Alan had put on a face he normally only did while he was still in the Army, lips straight, eyes unmoving. A face that showed he was ready to submit to an authority higher than himself, a sign of passivity. A sign of wanting to trust, and be trusted in return.

Alan got what he desired as Tails clearly relaxed himself and gave out a sigh of relief. Sonic almost did the same himself, but decided that wouldn't be so nice to his friend. Still, the fox's stare didn't cease. At least it was now more due to curiosity rather than fear, it seemed.

"I'm…Miles Prower," he finally spoke, though he sounded like he didn't want to. When he saw Alan raise his eyebrows, he continued, "but I prefer to be called Tails. You can…ask about my name later." He didn't like giving out his real name for both obvious and not so obvious reasons, but he decided being honest was more important than his own fears or biases.

"You okay?" Sonic asked in a concerned tone. "Man, I thought you were having a panic attack that you've never told me about or something."

"I'm fine," Tails replied, having regained his normal voice. "It's just, well, what do you-no, I mean…" he stopped talking, still nervous and conflicted enough that it affected his speech and thought. Not every day you got a _human_ of all things being escorted to your house by your best friend. He pressed a gloved hand against his temple and closed his eyes. "What…what do I do?" he said quietly, though not at anyone in particular.

"Sonic, you sure this is a good idea? If you have problems accommodating guests, I won't trouble you. I can leave and find some other shelter…somehow." Alan offered.

"Wait-no!" Tails suddenly spoke up. He again made eye contact with the human about twice his height and took a deep breath. _I can do this…have to do this. _"No, I mean, it's OK. You can stay. There's food, stuff and whatnot here. I…overreacted just now. I'm sorry. I don't want you to think it was a rejection."

Despite the fact that these two were possibly the only ones on the planet now that wouldn't act violently against him, Alan was somewhat reluctant to accept the offer. Not out of lack of trust, but rather, it was just that this Tails seemed so young, and Sonic not that much older…_wait a second_.

"Thanks for the offer," Doherty said, "though I would like to ask, how old are you, exactly? Both of you? It just occurred to me."

"I'm…eight." Tails seemed hesitant to say it. "But I'll be nine soon, honest," he was quick to add.

"Fifteen," Sonic answered instantly. "First we forget about the names, now the ages, heh, silly us. So what about you?"

"I'm…forty-three," slowly came the answer. Eight? Fifteen? "Wait, so where are your parents?"

"Uh…we don't have any," Sonic replied frankly. "We've been on our own most of our lives. We can tell you all about it later if you want."

"Then, this house?"

"Found it and refurbished it ourselves."

"So you can take care of it, and you are sure I'll be comfortable enough here?"

"Well, we – or mostly Tails to be exact - can take care of an airplane, a house and a guest aren't much more difficult." Sonic got up closer to Alan. "I know what you're thinking, that maybe we're too young or something, but I think we've done pretty well so far…just ask Robotnik." He smirked, and went on. "And to be fair, when I first met Tails I was pretty surprised by what he could do with machines too, so it's not like all mobian foxes, or young kids, for that matter, are like him." As he said that, the two-tailed fox's face turned noticeably red and he looked at the ground sheepishly, hands behind his back, tails swaying nervously.

Doherty accepted Sonic's explanation. Still, given what he'd seen so far on this world…"Fine, I guess I'll just have to get used to it," he admitted. "Is there anything else…amazing that I should know? Just in case I don't hit a wall to try and wake myself up."

"Oh yeah, good idea. Try this one then: Tails can fly," Sonic said with a smile.

Alan could only stare at the two of them. But…how? "Excuse me?"

"Show him, will ya, bud?" Tails simply blushed and shrunk himself back even more. The hedgehog laid a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder. He whispered into his ear, "It's OK, I'm here. And besides, put it this way, it'll show him not to mess with you or us."

After a while, Tails finally relented, giving a nod and a sigh. Unenthusiastically, he headed towards the door past Alan, stepped outside, and performed what he had known how to do since he was four. He twisted his tails in a very rapid circular motion and bent his body slightly, letting them spin above him like a helicopter rotor. In an instant, he lifted off the ground, and reached a height of some fifteen feet. Remembering Sonic's advice, he even performed a barrel roll and a somersault.

On the ground, Alan was simply wondering whether to be awed or scared at the display. He let himself to be more of the former.

After a while, the flying fox finally descended and landed gracefully in front of Alan, his twin tails turning back into exactly that. He allowed himself to smile at the completely frozen human.

"After I get out of this funny farm, I'll probably be sent directly to another," he could only comment. "But until then, could you show me inside?"

* * *

><p>About five minutes later, the tour, mostly given by Sonic, was complete, and Alan Doherty was impressed for the umpteenth time. He had been shown the living room, an unused room in which he would sleep, Tails' own bedroom, the kitchen, a bathroom, and was even allowed a peek at Tails' personal fighter jet in an underground airstrip tunnel, though no more than that. Alan didn't blame them. His only real complaint so far, which he did not voice, was how everything was adjusted to standard mobian sizes rather than that of humans, making certain places cramped and the doors short, though it was still bearable. Other than that though, it was a very comfortable, clean and well-maintained home for a place inhabited only by a kid and a teenager.<p>

Doherty was currently in the bathroom washing himself after realizing all the sweat and smell on him. The shower was naturally rather small in size, but he wouldn't rule it out for such showers to exist in poorer areas back on Earth. Minus the cleanliness, the constant water supply –which was filtered from a nearby river, he was told - and the heater, of course.

As Alan continued showering, Sonic and Tails were having a talk in the living room.

"Sonic, what really happened out there?"

"He pretty much told you the short version just now, it's all true. I found him lost in the woods, he had a Chaos Emerald, and he almost got killed while trying to ask the nearby village some questions, so I saved him."

"You're really sure he isn't working with Robotnik?" Tails' worry was apparent in his eyes as he looked to his surrogate big brother for an answer.

"Yes," Sonic replied confidently. He didn't use that word often, as it was rather formal by his standards. "It's actually quite funny you asked me that, since I'm pretty sure Alan was ready to declare us mobians as homicidal maniacs right there, if he even survived. And besides, you had such thoughts and experiences before too, didn't ya? Before you met me?"

Tails' face slumped downward a bit, as did his large triangular ears. He remembered those times alright, and they weren't exactly pleasant. "Y…yeah," he let out, "I…guess you have a point there."

"Exactly. Sorry I had to bring that up, though I really couldn't think of anything else I could compare to," the hedgehog assured. "If you're still worried, you could always check all of his gear he piled on the floor there," he continued as he pointed at Alan's FBI equipment which he took off before starting to shower. "If he was hiding something, like maybe a radio com or something, he wouldn't leave all his stuff out here."

"Hmm…" The fox went over to the equipment and did a quick visual scan. It consisted of Alan's bullet-resistant armor – one of whose pouches held the depleted Chaos Emerald - his helmet, rifle, handgun – both of which had been unloaded just in case – holster, weapon box magazines, and, like Sonic had guessed earlier, a radio communicator and cellphone.

Alarmed, Tails quickly took both up and examined them, fearing they could be transmitting their location or secretly recording. After fiddling with the buttons and dials a bit, he opened them up, which wasn't that hard to do, and examined their contents critically, though after a while, he professionally reassembled them and placed them back. "False alarm, I guess. One's a primitive walkie-talkie, the other's a cellphone, which is a bit more advanced. Both offline and not connected to anything. I'd like to examine them more, the phone especially, but for now they're safe."

"See, what I'd tell ya?" Sonic smiled again.

Tails also decided to have a look at the Chaos Emerald. He took it out from the pouch and held it out in awe. "Wow…so he really wasn't kidding. Knuckles will definitely want to see this."

"Yeah. It's probably the best way to help Alan get back anyway." Sonic waited until Tails put the Emerald back into the pouch before saying more. "Hey, bud?"

"Yeah?"

"It's actually been a while since you last talked to someone other than me. You could start with him."

"Why me and not you?"

"Didn't I say I wouldn't talk to him more. I think he's fascinating. But you can't stay all closed up forever."

Tails sighed. "I know. I really do try, I just…get so worried, like what if they're like those…those people before."

"Aw come on, what did I just say? He hasn't acted that way towards you, has he?"

"Yeah, but you're around."

"Then maybe I'll just sleep a little earlier tonight, huh?" Sonic jokingly suggested.

"Look, I promise to try. I think I'll have to talk to him one-on-one anyway to really make sure of everything…though I just hope I don't ruin it."

Right after he said that, the bathroom door opened and a completely cleaned and refreshed Alan Doherty emerged from it. He had taken off his shirt, which he held in his hand, but not his trousers, revealing a well-built and muscular torso as well as a light amount of chest hair. To the mobians this was unexpected, mostly due to people here with obvious muscles being uncommon, as even Knuckles didn't really appear to have them, and the fact that they'd never seen Robotnik take off his shirt before – not that they wanted him to, before or now – though they didn't say anything.

Alan was about to head into the kitchen to put his laundry when Sonic asked, "Hey, you wanna eat something?"

He paused. In the midst of the combat operation, his arrival to Mobius and his meeting of Sonic earlier, he had not once considered if he were hungry. And now that it was brought up…"Actually, yeah, that would be nice…what do you have?"

* * *

><p>Alan had his dinner, courtesy of Tails Prower, who interestingly enough knew how to cook. His meal consisted of chili dogs, a favourite of both Sonic and Tails, which, although tasty, caused Alan to wonder out loud where exactly did the meat come from. The two mobians were confused by his reaction, as if humans did not make meat out of animals on Earth, which caused Alan in return to be confused by their reaction. It didn't take long to consume the food entirely, so they didn't get to touch on other topics much.<p>

Sonic really did go to sleep early after eating, in his own room, feeling unexpectedly worn out by the day's events. Neither Tails nor Alan were that tired yet.

Doherty was lying on the mattress in his room, deep in thought, mostly about Robotnik. Though he hadn't even seen or met the guy, the aftereffects of what that man did were pretty clear. Alan really was nearly killed for simply being of the same species as him, and Tails had at first looked at him as though he were the devil himself, for the same reason. Sonic had said he trusted Alan to be harmless only after observing him for a while.

That was becoming a rather annoying theme. Tails' house was nice, but he had no intention of being stuck here just because the world outside would try and slaughter him at first glance.

Eventually he decided his own mission right now was not to find a way to get back to Earth – that one would be left to Sonic and Tails who had a way better idea about this than he did - but rather to get familiar with both Mobius and Robotnik, and see what he could do about the latter to improve his standing with the former. He didn't know how long he would be here. If he could return before learning more about Robotnik, so be it. If not, he had the chance of solving something himself. How exactly did this Robotnik even come here?

But he had to start somewhere first, right here. He had an idea how. Alan could sense that, beneath Tails' quietness and shyness, the fox was a nice, accepting individual who was willing to help. And there was the matter of his technological interest and talent. Certainly he could get his first bits of information from him?

Not wanting to wait anymore, he got up and opened the door. Nearly midnight already, the place was now rather dark, with the only bit of light coming from Tails' bedroom, through underneath his door. He crossed the unlit living room to the door and knocked lightly. It was opened a few seconds later.

Tails the fox stood there with a surprised look, clearly having thought Alan had slept already. "Um…hi," the youngster greeted nervously. "Is there…can I help you with something?"

"I, uh…" Alan hadn't really thought about how to get the conversation going. "I…couldn't sleep." Well, that was true enough.

"Hmm, same here, actually," Tails admitted, before he went back to his desk and sat on his chair. He swiveled it around to face Alan. "So…what is it?"

Alan remained standing at the doorway. "I don't know, I just…is it okay to talk with you?" Tails actually seemed to gulp at that question, though he maintained eye contact.

"Y…yeah, it's fine, it's OK," he replied, even though his voice made it sound like it wasn't.

Alan decided to address the issue directly. "Look, if you're…afraid, do you want to me keep my distance or something? I won't mind."

"No, don't worry," Tails said to Alan, though it applied equally well to himself. "It's not you or your fault, at all. I…don't talk to a lot of people other than Sonic much." He looked downwards as he said that. It seemed to be something he was ashamed of.

"Why not?" Alan inquired. Then it hit him. "Is it because of, uh, those?" He motioned just barely towards the orange fox's namesake appendages, which were curved down, almost touching the floor. Alan noticed they were actually pretty long, perhaps longer than Tails' own height.

"Y…yeah," Tails answered reluctantly again as he glanced at them and sighed. "I guess, sort of."

"So, it's unusual, having two tails?"

Tails nodded. "You bet. I've never heard of anyone else with two tails." He looked downward again.

Alan understood. "You were ostracized."

"Where I come from, yeah. Though my hobbies and name probably didn't help either."

Doherty was reminded about Tails giving his real name earlier. "So your name really is Miles Prower?" He did not want to sound too deep in disbelief since it seemed to be a sensitive subject for the fox, though it still sounded like a joke.

"Y…yeah, it is." It seemed to take some effort for him to actually say so. "Though I really prefer Tails…Sonic gave it to me. So…please don't use my real name. It…doesn't exactly bring back good memories."

"Very well…though you told it to me yourself."

Tails awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. "I just…like being honest, that's all."

"Even with a total stranger of a species you fear?"

He shrugged. "Sonic said you were okay, so, uh, I believed him." He knew Sonic must have been right, judging by the conversation they were having.

"What about your parents? Or Sonic's? They didn't help you out with all that?"

"I…" Alan immediately regretted asking the question so bluntly judging from the frown on Tails' face, though it disappeared as quickly as it formed. "Like Sonic said, I never knew who my parents were, he never knew his either. We just have each other, but before that…" Tails shook his head. "…yeah."

_Damn. _It was best to change the subject. "You said Sonic gave you the name Tails?"

"Yeah," he replied, and his lips formed a small smile. "He became my best friend ever since. Brought me along with him to many places, fought Robotnik and let me help when he needed it, found and fixed this house together with me, let me fix and upgrade the plane…" His eyes were full of admiration. "And made me…well, me, right now. I wouldn't be here without him."

"He seems pretty popular," Alan remarked, remembering how the villagers earlier deferred to him and spoke as if he had done a lot for them and others.

"Yeah, many people in the less developed areas can't do much against Robotnik. That, and, you know, his speed."

"Hmm," Alan wondered aloud, "I don't get it. So he's a hero for being fast and defeating Robotnik, yet you aren't one for being able to fly, fix stuff and defeating Robotnik?"

"Oh, it's not really like that…it's just where I came from, there was some superstition about anyone with two or more tails being evil, or something. They called me a…let me think…right, a kitsune."

Alan could recall he had heard about that somewhere on Earth before. Though he didn't say anything, he had to admit this was a little creepy. How could there be this many cross-world links?

Tails continued. "When I went around following Sonic, it wasn't so bad anymore," he explained, though it was followed by another sigh. "At least, I think so. I don't really…feel like testing that theory too hard."

"That bad?"

Tails' head, ears and tails were all drooped, and not slightly either. "Yeah. I promised Sonic to open up more…but it's hard."

"What have you done so far?"

"Sometimes I meet with some people who need help fixing things when we need money. They're nice to me, but Sonic's always with me when I meet them, so I'm not sure it counts. Other than that, I mostly communicate through the internet. It's gone okay so far, but I've never given my identity, mostly so that Robotnik can't track me, but…I don't know, maybe that's just an excuse."

The internet? On Mobius? Doherty noticed the powered down computer on the desk. Suddenly he remembered why he came to Tails. "I was wondering, uh, if it's okay if you let me use the internet for a while."

"Hmm…" Tails checked some of the components next to the computer. "I'd like to, but there's a problem with it today. It's my own connection, you see, rather than one of the other pay services, so it's not perfect. In fact I was trying to fix it before you came in. It should be usable tomorrow. Sorry. I imagine there's a lot you'd want to know about Mobius."

"Oh, then it's alright," Alan assured. He was a bit disappointed at that, though he really needed to think of what he had to look up first anyway. He found himself yawning. "Well, at least I still got something by coming over here."

There was again a pained expression on Tails' face. "Sorry for boring you to sleep with my life story and personal problems. I know that's not why you came here."

"Huh? No, that's not what I meant," Alan said with a wave of his hand. "I'm just saying it's been nice to talk to you. I'm not annoyed at all."

"Oh…" The fox blushed slightly. "Thanks." He himself started yawning too. "So…you're going?"

"Yeah, I guess. Goodnight."

He turned to go back, but before he took a step, Tails wanted to say one last thing. "Hey, Mr. Doherty?"

"Yes?" He turned around again, not expecting to be addressed formally.

"I…" Tails paused to think his words through. Expressing gratitude was important for the fox kit. "Thanks for this conversation. You're the first person I've talked to face-to-face in a while without Sonic. It…helped a lot. Thank you." He gave a sincere smile.

Alan just nodded. "No problem. Just don't be too hard on yourself, this kind of thing takes time, even for geniuses – I've seen it happen before. With adults. So you have it pretty well off at your age. Take it easy."

"I should be better at that now, thanks."

"Alright, and just call me Alan. Goodnight."

"Okay, goodnight…oh, one more thing!"

"Yeah?"

"I…promise to help you get back to Earth. I'll do what I can." He showed a determined fist as he made the claim.

"Thanks." Doherty smiled in return. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight…Alan." Tails wished before he closed the door.

After going back to his room and before knocking himself out, Alan found that he felt pretty good about the talk he had earlier, and that he now had two allies in this place instead of just one. It wasn't the goal he had in mind just now, but he was glad he fulfilled this one first instead.


	4. Chapter 3: Double Action

**Chapter 3: Double Action**

The sun shone through the small window directly into Alan's eyes. He got up slowly, feeling well rested. The clock on the wall showed that it was eight, which was actually rather late by Alan's standards, but then again, he didn't have to – and couldn't – go to work today. He wondered how things were going at the field office without him. He hoped his absence and no doubt disputed fate would not impact their performance.

Even more so, he hoped it didn't impact the lives of his wife and daughter, at least not too much. The last thing he remembered saying to them was that he would be coming home late. He wasn't sure whether to laugh at that now.

_Well, sitting around here won't make you get home earlier_, he told himself. Adjusting his watch to fit local time, Alan opened the door and got out. He was not going to pretend this was a vacation.

The living room was empty, and the doors to both Sonic and Tails' bedrooms were open, showing that they weren't there. Just to be sure, Alan checked Tails' room, specifically, the door that lead to his underground airstrip. Going down the steps behind it, he saw that the plane was there, but Tails wasn't.

Alan stared at the sleek blue and orange jet in awe for a while, but then headed back upstairs, not really feeling like examining a complex machine he wouldn't understand in the morning. He went into the bathroom to wash his face and gargle. After that, he entered the kitchen, hoping there was something for breakfast, and that it wasn't just chili dogs again. There was some toast and milk on the table. Alan noticed there were some dishes to be washed in the sink, so this likely was for him. Before that, he made sure to take his already dried shirt in the laundry corner and put it on.

_Where did they go?_ Alan didn't have much idea about the duo's morning habits. As he sat down to eat however, he got his answer. It came in the form of a paper note on the desk next to the toast, on which a barely legible message that had been obviously written in haste could be read.

_Hey Alan Robotnik attacking nearby town please don't come Sonic 7.50_

Doherty stopped to ponder the significance of this, the fact that it had been written in the same Latin alphabet like on Earth not occurring to him. He checked the time again. Five past eight. It was instantly clear that this was actually a good opportunity.

Alan had no idea who Robotnik was or how he looked like. And now, Robotnik was in action somewhere out there. Shifting his mindset into that of an FBI Special Agent, he saw that this was good way to get a good look at the suspect and his modus operandi, and that Sonic's note had merely been a tip-off.

And besides, there was else nothing to do here. _Yeah, I'm going out all right._ He consumed his breakfast rapidly before dumping the plate and cup into the sink. Entering the living room, Alan suddenly stopped as he glanced at his equipment on the floor. Should he arm himself in full, just in case? Or maybe be a bit more discreet? There was another practical concern too, namely, that wearing body armor would slow him down.

Eventually Doherty decided to strike a balance between the two. He picked up the thigh holster for his pistol together with the pouch for its magazines and put them on. The carbine and armor weren't going to be necessary unless he stumbled into another misanthropic village. No, he was going to keep his distance this time.

He exited the house before the next question hit him, which almost made him slap his own head: how exactly was he going to find out where Sonic had headed to? The hedgehog hadn't really left any directions, nor had he intended to.

_Hold it._ There was something he could try. He remembered that the ground in front of the house was soft enough to leave footprints. He first scanned the steps leading to the entrance, then at its base, and…_bingo_.

Sure enough, there were shoeprints that came out of it, turned left, and the gaps between each step seemed to grow larger into the distance, on the road through the woods. There were the shoeprints of only one person, which made sense – judging by Tails' demonstration yesterday, the fox would likely have to fly in order to keep up.

The only thing left was how far away exactly this town was. Alan recalled how the jet was still in the airstrip, and he guessed that it was generally used only if something was happening far away enough that even Sonic and Tails' own tremendous speeds weren't sufficient to reach it in time. Unfortunately he had no idea how often or rarely that happened – their definition of 'nearby' was still very likely to be different from his.

But then Alan thought about the only alternative option he had. _Nope, still going out. _Regardless of the distance, Alan was going to follow the trail. Worst case scenario, he'd just treat it as a morning jog, which was part of his ordinary routine anyway. Best case scenario, he'd get to observe what he wanted to observe. He just hoped that whatever happened, Sonic wouldn't be too annoyed with him.

* * *

><p>"You'll never beat me this time, Sonic!" boomed the loudspeaker from the rapidly moving black hoverbot. A TV screen on the robot showed a confident-looking Doctor Robotnik.<p>

"That's getting _so _old, Eggman, why don't you, like, invent a one-liner generator or something?" an equally confident Sonic who was moving even more rapidly simply taunted at the pursuing robot behind him. Tails, who was flying on the hedgehog's upper right, said nothing, preferring to leave the smartass comments to his friend.

"We'll see how many jokes you can make about my name once I have finally achieved my victory, over you and everyone else," the doctor resolutely declared in response.

The hoverbot, shaped like a smaller jump-jet, had arrived in town alongside nineteen others of its kind earlier, in the middle of the town square. Through its loudspeaker, Robotnik had demanded, as was typical of him, for the small town to surrender to him or be obliterated by the robots' powerful missile systems. Fortunately Sonic and Tails had arrived before the locals were forced to make a decision.

Not wanting to battle the robots in such a packed urban area, the duo were now baiting them away to a wide open area in which they could fight more effectively, and the only place that fit here was a patch of grass between some buildings and the woods. It wasn't very big, but still much better than needing to battle them on the narrow streets, which heavily limited the amount of run-up Sonic needed to build momentum and therefore perform his signature 'spindash' attack on them. It consisted of him running at full speed, rolling into a spin, and sharpening his quills as he tore straight into the enemy.

And as Sonic reached the open space, he performed exactly that by running up a tree some fifty meters ahead and bouncing backwards straight towards the robot that had transmitted Robotnik's message earlier. The living buzzsaw tore through the machine with ease, causing it to fall to the ground in several pieces. Sonic quickly ceased spinning, allowing him to aim his legs at a building opposite the tree, and rebound himself off it and land back onto the ground properly. Just after that, he ran towards the tree and repeated the procedure to a second robot before more came.

Meanwhile, Tails remained in the air, observing the other incoming robots and thinking quickly what to do. When it came to fighting Robotnik, the fox usually did so in his jet plane, high in the sky, and Sonic, ever the daredevil, would actually stand on one of the wings, wait for a chance to spindash the flying robots, do so, and land back on the plane. Up there, the pair's record was without peer, one that earned Robotnik's jealousy.

However, this engagement was happening near an urban area, and not to mention Tails simply didn't have the resources to make enough munitions for his aircraft. He would have to do it the old-fashioned way like Sonic, which did not happen often.

Luckily he wasn't completely powerless in this respect – he had suspected, and proved, some time ago that if he flew into a robot with his tails spinning fast and sharp enough, he could rip through it too, emulating Sonic's own move. It made sense, as Eggman's bots were designed for agility, which meant forgoing heavy armor – good enough against defenseless town folk, not so much against two mobians also known for outstanding agility.

But Tails had never done so before without Sonic himself, who remained faster than he was, and probably always would be so. He reminded himself that they really weren't so different from the robots in that speed was the only thing keeping them and others safe. What if one day-

"Tails, look out!" Sonic shouted as he interrupted the fox's thoughts while bouncing off another incoming robot. He looked to his left and saw a single missile coming in fast. As he gasped, his reflexes kicked in as he flew backwards slightly, letting the missile pass just inches in front of him, over the forest. Robotnik's tracking systems still needed work, it seemed.

Berating himself for letting himself get distracted by his thoughts in the middle of combat – in other words, un-Sonic behavior - Tails scowled. Focused now and still hovering, he moved even further backwards and higher, making sure of the location of all of the robots that have come.

Most of them were focused on Sonic, who was mostly running and jumping in circles around the bots to gain speed before spindashing or just colliding into them one at a time, whilst dodging the exploding missiles. This wasn't as efficient as in a straight line though, as he needed to hit them more than once to destroy them, though there were too many of them to do that trick again. The nice thing about being able to fly, Tails knew, was that he himself could get as much run-up as he wanted in the air.

Tails dodged more missiles launched his way, less afraid now that he knew they tracked so poorly. He saw that they came from one robot that was now the same height above the ground as he was, and that it was moving towards him at the same speed as his own. Not wanting to get too far away from the scene, and deciding the distance was enough, he quickly came up with an idea. Tails came to an abrupt stop in the air, swung his spinning tails forwards, shut his eyes and hoped for the best.

It was immediately clear that the robot's braking system was just as effective as its target tracking as it slammed straight into the spinning blades of doom and disintegrated. Tails opened his eyes. He almost thought about how it hadn't really hurt, but he saw on the ground more pressing matters at hand.

Sonic had just tripped over. He'd knocked out every other bot so far, but somehow, someway, one of them managed to make the fastest thing alive lose his balance as he was running and roll on the ground, not of his volition, and lie face down. The number of times he ever fell over in his life, Sonic could count on one hand. He had no time to feel humiliated now though, as he scrambled to get back up before the same robot that had tripped him and two others above him could launch a missile from just ten feet away…

* * *

><p><em>This must be it<em>, Doherty thought as he came to the town next to the forest, after having seen rising smoke and missiles in the air earlier, not to mention hearing distant explosions, which had caused him to leave the road and continue through the woods. He had been running for fifteen minutes, and he was quite grateful it wasn't any further.

Alan moved among the trees as his slowed down to observe the action before him. It was a grass field, which would be empty if not for the holes left behind by explosions and piles of smoking debris on it. More debris was being created as Sonic the Hedgehog crashed his way through a robot, which as far as Alan could tell before its destruction resembled a smaller Harrier jump-jet. _So this is what they do for a living_. Impressive, but Robotnik did not seem to be around here anywhere. Neither was Tails, for that matter.

As the show continued, Sonic seemed to leap upwards into the air, ready to smack into a bot that was hovering high, but another suddenly jerked underneath Sonic's path from the side, hitting the hedgehog's foot and causing him to fall over. Sonic was scrambling to get up, but Alan could see the same robot that ruined his jump opening up a launch tube, ready to fire a missile.

A reflex to help those in danger caused Alan to reach for his Smith & Wesson, even though he knew, rationally, that there was nothing he could do with a mere pistol from this distance. As the weapon was raised and ready to fire though, it became unnecessary. Tails the fox flew in at that point, from the upper left, at a speed almost matching Sonic's, and smashed straight into the back of the bot almost about to kill Sonic. Alan noticed that the fox was flying sideways as he did so, his spinning tails looking quite similar to Sonic's own way of attacking just now. Perhaps he did so to avoid detonating the robot's missiles loaded in its sides, which seemed to work, as the machine collapsed into half, but didn't blow up. Tails' flight path continued as he veered upwards and back to smash into two more bots. While upside down, too.

As Doherty holstered his gun, he saw a damaged but still functional hoverbot loomed over the two mobians as Sonic got up and Tails landed next to him, after looping around a bit to reorient himself. The bot did not seem able to fight anymore, though it was still capable of something else. A TV screen on it came online, and it was aimed straight at Sonic and Tails. It was at just the right angle to let Alan see its display clearly, while it most likely wouldn't be able to see him.

"So…" a man's voice boomed from the speakers as a mustached face filled the screen. "It looks like I have underestimated you here. No matter," he dismissed with a wave as he grinned, "I can do this over and over again…if I had to." Alan realized that could only be one person.

"Didn't know you were so self-deprecating, Doc, saying you can fail over and over again?" Sonic shot back, though there wasn't any triumph in his voice – the battle had been way too easy to make him feel satisfied.

"Like I said, if I had to. As it is, however, you both have proved most useful to me." This was when Doherty heard something to his right. He turned to see another badly damaged hoverbot which had been knocked into the trees by Sonic earlier, about thirty feet away. The robot, which was faced towards Sonic's back and no longer hovering, appeared to be slowly opening up its missile launch tubes…

"So, thanks a lot, and farewell! Hehehehe…" As Robotnik began cackling, Alan knew exactly what was going to happen, and the reflex kicked in once more. Hiding behind a tree, he took out his pistol again, aimed straight at the robot, or more specifically one of the large holes on it that exposed its internals, and opened fire, repeatedly squeezing the trigger as fast as the mechanism allowed. _Thank God for double-action triggers!_

Sonic and Tails were both startled by the noise that came from within the trees and turned to face it, but before they could react further, an explosion went off in front of them, causing them to quickly shield their faces. Fortunately, it was far away enough that only a minimal amount of debris reached the two, much of it being blocked by the trees.

"What the…?" Robotnik was aghast as he saw his plan go up in flames, quite literally. The TV screen speakers were not sensitive enough to pick up the gunshots, whose noise level was meager compared to that of the explosion, leading to Robotnik making a wrong, hurried guess about how it could have happened.

Sonic could barely make out the outline of what used to be a hoverbot, and immediately understood. "Well Eggman, I guess I was right about you just now, wasn't I?" His grin could have dwarfed the moon.

"Grgh! You haven't seen the last of me, Sonic! Not even close! Don't say I didn't warn you!" Robotnik proclaimed as the hoverbot began rising higher in the air, preparing to go back to wherever it was launched from. However, the damage it sustained caused it to do so very, very slowly. Seeing his chance, Sonic leaped and ran straight up the wall of the three-storey building, and as he reached the top, launched and spun himself straight upwards and destroying the final bot in the area. He softened his fall by landing and bouncing off the edge of the building and back onto the ground, in front of a smiling Tails.

"We did it," the fox said excitedly as he high-fived Sonic. "That was great, Sonic!"

"Hey, you did pretty nicely too," Sonic replied, and he meant it. "Especially that dive-bomb technique just now, you saved my hide there. Thanks."

"Only because you saved mine before that," Tails pointed out. He was still a bit annoyed by that, though he decided his performance that followed made up for it. It had gone far better than he expected. _I can do anything with Sonic beside me._ "Thanks, though."

"No prob. That was way too easy though. I mean, I think we've had training even harder than that…" Sonic would have continued his diatribe about how pathetic Robotnik's 'attack' was, but he remembered that noise before the explosion in the woods. "Hey, Tails, what was that sound in there? Before the thing blew up." He pointed towards roughly where it came from.

"Not sure. Let's check it out," Tails said, feeling suspicious as well, as both of them began walking towards the trees. They were startled slightly to hear some rustling, causing them to get into their combat-ready stances, before a very familiar figure suddenly came out from behind a tree and showed itself.

"Alan?" They both exclaimed in unison. "What're you doing here?"

The FBI agent sighed. "Well, if you were both going to leave me alone at home, at least give me something to do, right?" The pistol in his hand had its slide locked back, showing it was out of ammo.

"But what about…" Sonic started, but then he heard a commotion behind him. The townsfolk were already coming out of hiding to see the aftermath of the incident. "Yeah, uh, we better get out of here first. Best not to let anyone see you, Alan. And the locals can thank us later, Tails."

"Okay," Tails simply said in return. Not that he really felt like facing the locals anyway. It seemed so wrong, he thought, to be more nervous in the company of ordinary people rather than deadly robots.

"Right, let's move." Sonic moved past Alan and Tails and motioned for them to follow. "Let's get back onto the road."

As they began trekking through the trees, Tails couldn't help but think about what Robotnik had said earlier. How exactly had they helped him? It sure wasn't to collect combat data, not with those outdated hoverbots…

* * *

><p>"So, that was Robotnik," Alan stated as they walked along the same road he had used earlier.<p>

"Yep. Now you know who he is," Sonic nonchalantly said.

"Not really, but it's a start." He was quite satisfied by the way it had gone, including how he managed to see the guy's face as well being completely convinced of his (attempted) crimes. The only thing he didn't get was a photo, though there had been no time to get his cell phone out. The mobian internet was probably full of them anyway.

All sorts of questions were floating around in Alan's head about Robotnik now. Who was this person? What was he doing here? How did he come here? Everything about him screamed mysterious. Alan wasn't even sure he wanted to go back to Earth without finding out more about this guy first. That just seemed irresponsible.

"Hey, that was you just now, right? Those were gunshots, you shot that robot that almost shot us."

Alan was shaken out of his thoughts. "Yeah. I saw Robotnik laughing and the robot trying to go out in glory. Did the only thing I could think of."

"Well, thanks I guess," Sonic replied, wondering if he could have dodged the missile if it really were fired at him from behind. "Sorry I left you at home with nothing to do. We were kind of in a rush, though luckily you disregarded my note earlier. That's a bit like me, really. Just ask Tails."

"Yeah," the fox chimed in. "Sonic's a bit stubborn sometimes, but I trust him to do what's right. He's never let me down there, right Sonic?"

"I do my best not to, bro." The hedgehog gave a thumbs up gesture. "Anyway, enough bro talk. Hey Alan, you're still wondering about that Chaos Emerald, right?"

A pause. "Well, yeah. It can take me back, right?"

It was Tails who answered. "Well, yeah, but not by itself. We'll have to bring it to Knuckles. He'll know what to do."

"I don't want to sound like I'm rushing, or hate being here or something, but when could we meet him?"

"Later today. None of us have that much to do. Though I just hope he won't be too surprised, you know, when he sees you, us, and the emerald you got. He doesn't exactly get visitors."

"You can't contact him about it?"

"Not really," Sonic came in, "Guy's even less interested in technology than I am. Now that's saying something." He chuckled.

"That said, though, he did accept us putting a distress alert signal on his island like the one in the town just now, just in case," Tails said. "I get the alerts on my wrist computer right here." He moved the cuff of his left glove slightly to reveal a device that was hidden there and started looking through it. "But yeah, other than that, it's really a one-way street. He doesn't like being bothered-" Tails saw something on the small screen that made him stop talking and moving completely. His expression froze.

"Tails, bro? What is it?"

"It's…Knuckles. He sent out a distress signal just now. I was too deep into fighting to notice it. This could only mean one thing."

"The attack we fought off was just a distraction!" Sonic was both alarmed and annoyed. "So that's what he meant by us helping him. Credit where it's due, Eggy's actually pulled off something unexpected."

"It's like he only ever attacked singular places just to make us unprepared for this." Tails mentioned, panicking. In front of them, Tails' house was now in plain view. "Either way, we're here. We've gotta move now!"

"Wait, why go back inside? To use the plane?" Alan asked as he followed them to the front steps.

"Yeah. No one can get there on foot, not even me. Hurry," Sonic pressed as he entered the door first, followed by Tails and Alan last. As the two mobians went into Tails' room to get to the airfield access, Alan remembered to take the depleted Chaos Emerald out from the pouch on the floor.

Less than a minute later, they were all in the underground airfield. Tails, already in the plane's cockpit, hurriedly checked the jet's systems to make sure of its condition. He was glad he already fine-tuned the rest of the plane yesterday, saving him some time. Meanwhile, Alan looked around the aircraft's exterior. It was hard to describe, as it had elements from just about every fighter and strike aircraft he knew on Earth.

"Alright, one-hundred percent operational! Alan, come on up, behind me."

On the floor, Doherty stared at the back seat in bewilderment. "You sure I can fit in that? What about Sonic?"

"Oh, don't worry about me," Sonic assured, "I don't need to sit inside. I'll show you." As Alan glanced at Sonic and then at the plane to imagine how that was even possible, Tails pressed a button in his space, causing the rear seat to move backwards slightly.

"Okay, that's the most space I can make back there, but it should be enough." Taking Tails' word for it, Doherty climbed up the ladder into the back seat. It was rather cramped, about as comfortable as the smallest car seat he ever sat in. Then again, given mobian sizes, it was remarkable that he could make the comparison at all. Alan quickly put on the seatbelts.

"Watch your head," Tails said as he pressed a switch to close up the canopy. Alan lowered himself onto his thighs as much as he could to avoid being knocked by the lowering glass above him. When he sat back, he found he had to slide his butt forwards to be able to sit up straight, which required him to raise his knees somewhat.

Tails turned his head to see Sonic already in position outside, and they exchanged A-OK gestures. Alan turned as well to see that the hedgehog was casually leaning against one of the vertical stabilizers, in the same way one normally did at the beach. Alan had no comments.

"Alright, just opening the gates ahead," Tails said, flipping a remote switch. The entire chamber suddenly brightened up in white lights, and in the distance, sunlight was let in as the steel doors opened. All of this momentarily blinded Alan and made him shield his eyes, whereas the two mobians weren't fazed at all.

"Engines starting…" On cue, the two powerful thrusters came to life. Judging by how audible they still were inside the canopy even with sound insulation, Alan wondered how Sonic could even stand it as the hedgehog remained in his relaxing pose.

"Oh yeah, Alan, give me that Emerald, please?" Tails asked. Alan held it over the front seat for Tails after it had been in his hand the whole time. He was glad to do so. The thing was taking up precious space. The fox took it and placed into a storage compartment under the seat. "Alright, takeoff time!" He adjusted his controls, and the aircraft finally started moving, almost knocking Alan on the back of his head as he was thrown backwards, though his hand was quick to press against the glass behind.

Alan had never been in a supersonic plane before, and was worried that he could unexpectedly throw up with all the thrust he was feeling. Tails, apparently sensing his concern, said, "Don't worry, I won't exceed the speed of sound…even though it would be nice if we could."

"How'd you know about me?"As Doherty asked that, he turned to see that Sonic hadn't moved an inch.

"You didn't really seem like a pilot to me, the way you reacted and all."

"Yeah, good observation." Alan looked out to see they were now flying over a large green forest, with a river running through it. There were small mountains in the distance. It occurred to him that this was the first time he was seeing Mobius from above. As the flight stabilized, he decided there wasn't much he could do other than admire the view. But there was one more thing…"Excuse me?"

"Yeah?"

"You still haven't told me the name of your plane."

Tails smiled. "Hope you enjoy your flight aboard the Tornado."


	5. Chapter 4: Stories

**Author's note: On a side note, I must say I am really glad the website has changed the top navigation bar to much more useful one to the left side. Anyway, let's carry on...**

**Chapter 4: Stories**

Alan wasn't really much of a scenery admirer, but so far he could see why Sonic and Tails chose to live out here instead of in an urban area. There was no sign of industrialization or pollution among the greenery and mountains. All clean. All nature. It was indeed pleasing, though Alan Doherty was not cynical enough to believe such a place couldn't exist on Earth.

At least not until he saw what came up next.

The Tornado reached a coast five minutes after taking off from Tails' airfield, and was now flying over a sea. Over the horizon, Alan saw something that would make every nature lover on Earth concede defeat to Mobius. He opened his mouth to express amazement, but he simply couldn't find the words. "You know what, uh…I think I'll just keep my mouth shut."

Tails just chuckled. "It's alright, many mobians are amazed by it too. Angel Island. It's one the planet's main wonders, and we're among the few that are allowed to visit it. You're lucky."

Alan wondered whether that was true. To him, Lady Luck was messing with him big time, having first emptied his invisible luck meter by dropping him on this planet and almost getting him killed by talking animals. Now she was slowly filling it back up by letting him meet Sonic and Tails…as well as now this.

In front of the plane, a large and literally floating island was now in view, majestically hovering some two hundred meters above the sea and being at least the size of dozens of stadiums. On it was another lush green forest, untouched by human or mobian hands, with the sole exception of what seemed like a stone structure in the center of the whole island. _Grand, _Alan thought. _That's the best word for all this._

And it probably would have been grander if it weren't for the signs of trouble at the stone structure. Smoke and fire could be seen around it as the Tornado entered the island's airspace.

"Knuckles…" Tails was gasping. "I hope he's okay. We're going to land, hold on." He turned around to gesture to Sonic with a finger pointing downwards. Sonic, still looking like he was at the beach, gave a thumbs up.

"Wait a minute, there's no runway here," Alan pointed out.

"Don't worry, we don't need one." Tails slowed down noticeably and pressed a few buttons. Below and on both sides of the plane, the thrust vectors turned towards the ground. Meanwhile, Alan silently berated himself for having missed the signs that this was a VTOL aircraft. Having needed support from aircraft such as the Harrier a long time ago meant he should have been able to tell.

Eventually the Tornado landed on a small patch of space that was far away enough from the stone structure that the trees were blocking it. Shortly after touching the ground, Tails shut off the engines and popped open the canopy. All three promptly leapt off the plane.

Sonic led the way, though he wasn't running, at least not yet. "Knux?" he called out as he went along a dirt path that cut through the thick trees. "Knux?"

They emerged out of the path a minute later, and Sonic and Tails stood in shock at what they saw. Even Alan could tell something serious had happened here.

The stone structure appeared to be an altar of sorts, made out of four concentric circles, each smaller than the one below it, with a set of stairs leading to the top. Up there, a strange and actually familiar green glow could be seen. It hadn't been visible earlier from the plane due to the smoke coming from all the small fires around it, both on the structure and on the ground.

Tails ran to some of the ground fires and realized that they came from the smoking debris of destroyed robots. They had been very thoroughly smashed into pieces, making it impossible to see what models they were. "It's Robotnik, all right. Sonic, you go up there and see if Knuckles is okay. I'll be looking at these."

"Got it," Sonic said and began heading up the stairs, but then he turned back to face Alan. "Hey, uh, I think you gotta hide yourself again."

"Again?"

"Yeah, sorry, it's just that, well, you if thought Tails didn't like strangers, wait till you meet Knucklehead. And a human just attacked this place. He sees you, what's he going to think? Look around you. Just a hunch, I don't think those robots destroyed themselves…"

Alan took a glance at a nearby destroyed robot that Tails was examining. The decision was made very quickly. "You made your point. I'll get behind the tree."

But not quickly enough. As Alan turned to go towards the nearest tree, a figure suddenly leapt out of nowhere and landed with a forceful thud right in front of him, kicking up some dust in the process. Alan was startled enough to not exclaim anything as he shielded his eyes, and it got the attention of both Sonic and Tails.

"Knux!" Sonic called out. "You're all right!"

"I appreciate your concern, Sonic," the figure said after the dust settled. His rough voice didn't sound very friendly, and it became even less so. "You bringing him here though, not so much."

"Knux, we can explain-"

"You can do that after I'm done with this guy," he said ominously.

Alan now saw that the figure was a mobian of a species he couldn't identify, having red fur, slightly taller than Sonic, long dreadlocks down the sides of his head, what seemed like steel plates on his shoes, and perhaps most worrisomely, two really large fists, each having two spikes. Both were aimed threateningly at Alan, accompanied by two purple eyes narrowed into slits.

Knowing a threat when he saw one, Doherty slowly reached for his pistol. His hand never got to it.

Knuckles the Echidna began his attack by swinging his right fist towards Alan. Amazingly, Alan was able to dodge it, and even the next one, but very barely. This only made Knuckles grunt more angrily. Alan knew he could not keep this up for long as he tried his best to reach his gun again. Knuckles' moves were lightning fast, and there was no doubt about their power. If he was hit even once, he was going to become human debris.

Fortunately Sonic intervened on Alan's behalf right before a punch that was sure to land on the latter's chest and right as he got a hold of his weapon, finger already in trigger. Without knowing it, Sonic had actually also saved Knuckles' life. The hedgehog darted in and tackled the echidna on the ground to the side.

"Knucklehead, stop it, I didn't bring him here as target practice for you!" Sonic quickly said as he wrestled Knuckles to the surface.

"Sonic, are you insane?" The echidna cried out angrily as he did everything he could to get the fastest thing alive off him. "What else could that _thing _have in mind coming here? To apologize to me?"

"Erm, to give you the seventh Chaos Emerald?" Sonic mentioned desperately.

The struggling stopped immediately as Knuckles' eyes widened. "Wait…what?"

"I'm serious." Sonic got off Knuckles while panting, thankful that he didn't have to hold down the beast any longer. "The green one, the missing one, he got teleported onto Mobius with it. Because of it. Guys?" Sonic glanced at Alan and Tails, the former quickly holstering his weapon again.

It was the fox who responded. "Oh yeah, I have it," he said, before reaching into one of his tails to bring the Emerald out. Not many people knew it, but Tails had the ability to store small objects within his namesakes' thick fur, though he had to remove them before he could fly. As Alan looked at him incredulously, Tails appeared a bit sheepish as his other hand rubbed the back of his neck. "Um, yeah, it's something I can do. Sorry I didn't tell you earlier."

Knuckles quickly strode over to Tails to see the Emerald with his own eyes. He stared at it in amazement. It had been so long since he last saw it, and as the Chaos Emeralds, along with the Master Emerald sitting at the top of the altar, were supposed to be his responsibility, he had never been at peace with himself since its disappearance, and believed he wouldn't see it again. And now, here it was, right in front of him. It wasn't shining, but that was to be expected. He quickly forgot his rash anger as it was replaced with relief.

Yet the feeling was bittersweet. This Emerald was finally back in his hands, but only after Robotnik took away several more from him just now. It could have been much worse, but he knew it could have been way better too. This was his sworn job and duty for life, after all. What good was it if he could not carry it out properly for as long as he lived?

Finding a way to make himself feel better, Knuckles looked at the human that Sonic mentioned. He slowly walked up to Alan, non-threateningly this time. Alan stayed put, realizing this guy had thankfully calmed down. "You…you found it?" the echidna began.

"Um…not exactly," Doherty said. "It's, uh, a long story."

"You should probably still tell him though," Sonic spoke up. "For all I know, it's the reason he's always been so grumpy." The hedgehog started chuckling, which earned a deep, short growl from Knuckles, even though the echidna knew deep down he was right, in a way.

"Uh, guys?" Everyone turned to look at Tails. "The altar's still on fire, you know. And it doesn't look like it will rain soon. Want to me to get the fire extinguisher from the plane?"

Knuckles instantly remembered the damage done earlier, which caused his eyes to open wide. "Uh…yeah, I appreciate it, thanks."

"You know, you really should have one here too. I can give it to you if you like," The fox said as he twisted his namesakes to get into the air and hurry back to the Tornado. _Well, at least we extinguished the biggest one first…_

* * *

><p>After the fire was put out, Alan and Knuckles exchanged introductions and their stories. The human recapped how he got there and the little he knew about the Chaos Emerald when it was on Earth. Knuckles gave his account about how the robots had suddenly descended upon him, intending to take all the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald, which was what kept the island floating, away. Alan had to stop himself from reacting too visibly upon seeing the latter, due to how it was the size of a car, lest Knuckles think he was just as greedy as Robotnik. Above Angel Island, the sun continued to shine brightly, so everyone made sure to be under the shade of the trees.<p>

"He only managed to take three away though," Knuckles said. He looked downwards unhappily and quietly added, "I could have done better than that…"

"Me too." Tails wasn't looking very cheery either. "I could have noticed your distress signal earlier, while in the town, and I could have come here to knock out more robots with the Tornado. I'm really sorry." The fox hung his head in shame.

"Aw, what is this, group therapy?" Sonic cut in abruptly. "Robotnik played a trick on all of us. We all did what we could, given the circumstances. And not that I think the Chaos Emeralds are unimportant or something, but I don't think it would have been worth it to leave a town to die to save them."

"But that's exactly it, Sonic," Knuckles replied. His voice and eyes were heavy with worry. "What if he uses those Emeralds to wipe out even more people?"

"Well, he hasn't used them yet, has he? And he definitely would have wiped out that town if we weren't there. Focusing on the now and all that," Sonic continued. "Besides, we've dealt with Eggy with three Emeralds before. It's hard, but not that hard."

"I'd probably feel a bit more assured by your words if we knew where he was hiding. That's the hardest part," an exasperated Knuckles said. "At least the other one's still with you, right Tails?"

"Yeah, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to come here."

"What are you talking about?" Alan inquired.

"Oh, the Tornado's powered by a Chaos Emerald. Knuckles lets me use it."

That earned a whistle from Alan. "You managed to do what many scientists back on Earth had failed to do for thirty years just like that?"

Tails shrugged. "It's not really that hard if you're familiar with how they work. You just need to strike the right balance between-"

"Alright, thanks Tails, but enough of that here," Knuckles spoke, stopping the fox before he could engage in his technobabble. "Anyway, there's the other problem with not all of the Chaos Emeralds being present here." He glanced at Alan.

Doherty already had a feeling he knew what he was about to say. "Let me guess. I can't go home now."

The echidna nodded. "Yes, unfortunately for you. The Chaos Emerald you brought in is real, definitely, but it's used up its power and needs a full recharge, that's why it's not longer glowing. The recharging can only happen with all other Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald present. When they're all together, the latter can establish a link with Earth. But I'm guessing Robotnik is going to link it up to some other doomsday device instead."

Doherty simply crossed his arms and frowned. He was disappointed, but not exactly surprised. He had always assumed the worst in such situations. But there were some other things that caught his interest. "Okay, I understand that, but…how exactly do you know it can lead back to Earth?"

"My people long ago had suspected the existence of a linked planet in a parallel dimension that could be reached through the Emeralds."

"But you never came through it, to our planet?"

"No. We didn't." Now it was Knuckles' turn to frown. "It's complicated, and to be honest I've had enough of storytelling for today."

Alan wanted to inquire more, out of a belief it was related to his job, his investigation. But he looked at Knuckles' face and fists while also considering the remote location they were in. Would this guy even know what an investigator did? Come to think of it, did Sonic or Tails? "Fair enough."

"One thing I'd like to know, though," Knuckles added, "Why did Robotnik choose now of all times to attack Angel Island?"

"I think I know," Tails said. "It likely has to do with position. Angel Island is usually much further out at sea. But it seems that every few years it comes close enough to land for Robotnik's bots to reach and attack it. If you didn't notice it, don't feel too bad. It's not so easy while you're on it yourself."

Knuckles only nodded with a grim expression. Just another hazard that he to take note of in the next many years, assuming Robotnik continued to operate till then. Great.

"Well, I guess we got what we came for," Sonic said as he stretched his arms into the air. "Thanks for everything, Knux. Go now, Tails? I'm starving."

"So am I, actually. Alan?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Hey, before you leave," Knuckles said as he walked up to Alan again. "Thanks for giving me that Emerald. You have no idea how much relief you brought me."

Doherty shrugged. "I'm not sure I'm the one you should thank, but, no problem. And actually, thank you for not punching me. I'm serious."

Knuckles smiled wryly and briefly at that one. Behind Alan, Sonic and Tails were trying not to laugh. "Sorry about that. It's just that I didn't know what else to do. This job, these Emeralds, they're just so important to me."

"You were doing your duty. I can't blame you for that," Alan said.

"Anyway guys," Sonic cut in. "We'll find Eggy's hideout and get the Emeralds back. We always have, always will, after all."

"Alright, alright, I get it, you're awesome," Knuckles added, sounding a bit annoyed. "Bye."

"See ya." Both Sonic and Tails began walking away, and Alan waved before following them. The echidna watched as they walked away back through the trees.

Knuckles turned around to head back up to the Master Emerald. Taking the newly recovered Chaos Emerald, he placed it upon one of the seven raised stone spots surrounding the Master Emerald where it belonged, the spot which had been empty until now.

As he sat at the top of the stairs, he found himself thinking about all manner of issues, including how Alan seemed different from Robotnik, and what exactly he could do about the missing Emeralds. _Not much, _he supposed as he shook his head, _other than take care of the ones that weren't_.

As Tails prepped the Tornado for take-off, Sonic glanced at Alan. "Not bad. You're, like, the third person ever to come onto this island without being tossed off of it or something. You're making quite a bit of progress."

"I think I'll call it progress only after I can make friends without being considered an enemy first. That was the third time already." He didn't try to hide his annoyance. "Maybe I should meet this Robotnik and show him what a pissed off FBI Special Agent out of his jurisdiction can do."

"Oh, I'm sure that'd make an interesting meeting," Sonic remarked as he got into his usual position on the plane, not realizing that Alan meant it more seriously than he thought.

* * *

><p>An hour later, the Tornado arrived back in the airfield underneath Tails' place once more. Tails cooked again, this time serving ham and eggs. Sonic joked about how about Alan's presence meant they couldn't go to any restaurants for lunch, not that they did that often anyway.<p>

As they started eating, Sonic decided it would be boring to have a quiet lunch. "You know, maybe you should tell us more about yourself," Sonic said to Alan.

"Hm?"

"You know quite a bit about us already," he explained after swallowing another bit of egg. "But we don't really know much about you. One-way streets ain't cool, man." Another piece of ham. "Besides, looks like you're gonna be stuck with us for a while."

"I guess it's only fair," Doherty agreed. "What do you want to know?"

"Well, you say you're FBI, a Special Agent, what are those things? What do you do?"

"Federal Bureau of Investigation. I thought you told me Mobius had such things," Alan stated confusedly.

"Well, I don't go to the places that have them often, not really."

"You could always use the internet, Sonic," Tails said. "It's not that bad. If you sat there for a while, you probably would already know what Alan's talking about."

"You know me bro, I don't like to sit down if I don't have to. Anyway, do you know Alan's talking about?"

"Yeah, sort of. I remember reading about it somewhere." Tails turned to Alan. "Is it, like, an agency that holds up the law across a country rather than just in one city, one spot?"

"You could say that."

"What's a Special Agent do?" Sonic asked.

He cleared his throat first. "My job is to investigate, investigate and investigate criminal suspects."

"What's with the gun, though?"

"The purpose of my investigations is ultimately to save lives. And to do that, I don't just sit at a desk. Sometimes I have to go out there, into dangerous situations with dangerous people. Then, I ask questions before I decide whether to shoot."

"What's that mean?"

"I try to save as many lives as possible, both innocent and guilty ones. Though sometimes, they can be mutually exclusive. I acknowledge I may have to take a life to save another." He took a sip from his drink before putting it down on the table somewhat forcefully. "I accept that."

"I see…I'm really not sure I agree with that, but I guess that's how you work." Sonic shifted his position a bit. "Come to think of it, could I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"Have you killed people before?"

There was a moment of silence before Alan said anything. "Yes, I have." Both Sonic and Tails sat forwards as they immediately looked more interested in the subject now. "Though, I wore a different uniform back then. A military one."

"Hmm. What do you think about that? You know, the fact you've killed before?"

"Not much honestly. I fought in wars. Didn't exactly a lot of time to contemplate morals." He drank a bit again and gazed at Sonic. "Nevertheless I did get rather tired of it. So I switched from a job where I kill as many enemies as possible to one where I kill as little as possible, and all the while still serving my country. And so far, since I got my badge, I haven't killed anyone, I think." He remembered shooting a few ARA goons in the Long Beach warehouse. He had no way to make sure whether they survived.

"But your uniform still looks pretty military. Your armor, your rifle, your equipment."

"I don't wear or use those every day. Usually when I do, it's meant more for intimidation than war. It doesn't necessarily mean violence is inevitable, though it is a precaution against it. The few times I wore it, I only ever had to fire shots in the same situation that teleported me here." His gaze softened as he realized something. "Wait, Tails, has Sonic told you about that?"

"Yeah, what you told Sonic, he told me this morning," the fox confirmed.

"Though I don't think the ones I shot died. I hope not, we need info from those creeps."

The two mobians exchanged what seemed like uncomfortable looks. Doherty was able to guess why. "I know it can feel awkward to be with someone who used to take lives for a living, and may still have to do so. But you asked who I was, and there's my answer."

"Nah, it's alright, we're not judging you," Sonic assured. "It's just that in our experience most people other than hunters that kill, well, they don't seem to have much respect for life."

"Yeah," Tails agreed. "But you're not like that. It's…new to us, I guess." He shrugged.

"You're saying this because of Robotnik, right?"

Another pause before Sonic spoke. "Yeah. I guess when I said people, I really meant person."

"I can assure you if he pulled that crap on Earth, I and many others would be hunting his ass." Alan took in a deep breath before he continued. It was time to bring out what he really had in mind. "You know what? Nobody says it has to be only on Earth."

"What're you talking about?" Sonic looked confused.

"From the way you talked back on that floating island, you guys seem to have had a problem with Robotnik for a long time."

"Eh, it depends. He's pretty good at designing robots – not so good at designing plans though. Well, except for that distraction thing earlier."

"He seems pretty good at staying alive too," Doherty remarked. "Ten years you said you've fought him?"

"Yeah, more or less."

"Before you were even born, Tails?"

"Umm, well…" the fox's face was briefly downcast as he came up with his answer. "I've helped Sonic fight Robotnik ever since I met him four, five years ago. It can be hard…still beats my life before that though."

"But doesn't that seem like a long time? Don't you wish for it to stop? For him to stop?"

"Well, he is pretty thrilling to play with sometimes…" Sonic smiled for a while, but then it disappeared. "But, otherwise, yeah. I'd just…like to help everyone, you know. No more deaths, no more hate. For all."

"I think I know where this is going," Tails said, keeping eye contact with Alan. "You want to help us."

Doherty put his hands at his waist. "Exactly."

"But why?"

"Well, why not? It's not like I have a choice anyway. He has what I need to go back to Earth. Since you guys have to find him, I might as well try to speed it up." He finished off the last of his meal and drink before pushing them away a bit. "But even if it weren't like that, I've just told you my job is to investigate. And this guy's a freaking gold mine of questions."

"Because he's a human?" Sonic asked.

"More than that. I remember hearing something about a researcher working on the Chaos Emerald who went missing thirty years ago on my planet. I couldn't confirm it because it led nowhere, but now I'm thinking it could really be this guy." Alan got up from the chair and began pacing around. "Not to mention, based on what Knuckles said, Robotnik could really choose to go back to Earth any minute, yet he doesn't. He chooses to stay here and act like a science fiction villain." He stopped moving to look straight into Sonic's green eyes. "I want, and I need to find out why. It cannot simply be for the kicks. I have a little more faith in humanity than that."

"So that's why you followed us there this morning," Sonic remarked. "You feel Robotnik is your responsibility."

Alan nodded. "I think I would want to do something about this even if I weren't in law enforcement."

"But how are you planning to do it?"

"I'm guessing I'll have to be bait. Robotnik would be very curious about seeing another human here. He'd want to meet me."

"But you're sure he doesn't know about you being here yet?"

"I don't think so. The villagers yesterday aren't exactly going to tell him, and I hid behind a tree to shoot that robot. But even if he knew I did that, I can explain it away as confusion, panic." Alan leaned against a wall with his palm. "Anyway, before I can really plan anything, I need more info. Not just about Robotnik. This whole place. Everything. Tails, is your internet fixed?"

"Yeah," the two-tailed fox replied, beaming. "Let me wash this up first, then I'll get it ready for you, in my room," he said as he collected the dishes and cups.

"Okay, thanks."

Sonic got off his seat and walked up to Doherty. "You don't have to do this, you know."

"Well, you don't really have to fight Robotnik either. You're not employed in any capacity like mine that requires you to. But you do it anyway."

The hedgehog shrugged. "Sure I have the capacity. Just a different kind."

* * *

><p>Ten minutes later, all three were in Tails' bedroom as Alan sat at the computer, with Tails next to him on another chair. Sonic simply laid lazily on his friend's bed. The room was somewhat messy, with various books and pieces of paper, mostly about technical subjects, lying around the shelves, desk and on the floor, for which Tails sheepishly apologized when they first entered.<p>

Alan had to type slowly, as the mobian keyboard layout was completely different from that on Earth. Other than that, the similarities were clear. He still had to boot up the OS, open a browser, and use a search engine and online encyclopedias. From then on the world was at his fingertips. Before he started, Alan asked if he could take as many pictures of what he saw on the screen as possible with his cell phone just in case, and neither of the two objected.

What Alan had read so far correlated with the info Sonic had given. Mobius was indeed divided into various developed and undeveloped countries, also known as New Mobius and Old Mobius respectively, and it seemed that the rift between the two was stark, apparently due to colonialism, clashes, and conflicts in the past. There wasn't even much, if any, trade that occurred between them, unlike on Earth.

Old Mobius was what caught his interest. It was true to its name, if the articles online were to be believed. Other than simple machines, technology appeared to be shunned in its areas. Few real internet connections or broadcasts, which meant parts of Old Mobius that were far apart enough hardly ever had contact with each other, and possibly less info about its territories. Cars were rare. Alan recalled the two settlements he's seen so far, the village and the town earlier, and they were indeed rather rustic in appearance.

Then Doherty remembered where this house was. He turned to Tails. "Why is a technophile like you living in a place where technology isn't widespread? Actually, where did you learn this stuff anyway? Sure doesn't look like it's from around here."

"It's not," the fox confirmed. "I'm from a New Mobian area that borders Old Mobius, right here," he said as he pointed it out on the map on the screen. "Pretty high-tech place, but, well…" Tails shook his head. "I wasn't happy there. I told you about it yesterday night. Sonic arrived there one day, and I took what I learned and followed him out here. Never looked back."

"Yep. Best decision we've ever made in both our lives, if you ask me." Both hedgehog and fox smiled at each other.

"You can still make ends meet with your skills here?" Alan asked.

"Yeah, I can," Tails said. "They do have machines, just not complex digital ones. It's not a problem for me at all to fix them."

"As long as I'm by your side while with those people, that is," Sonic said as he let out a good-natured chuckle.

"Sonic, come on," Tails replied, his face turning red.

Alan continued his research. Their lack of technology seemed to translate into a lack of government, the highest being only at town level. This meant they usually had no militaries, little law enforcement…little law. However little it was though, the latter was fortunately still there. A number of regions still had courts, criminal systems and prisons. Tails didn't say anything about the articles, figuring that, due to his job, Alan would naturally want to look at such things.

Eventually Doherty turned his attention on Doctor Ivo Robotnik. Unfortunately, the information available on him wasn't much. Nothing about when or where he first appeared, or about how he was treated, aside from 'occasional prejudice'. His earliest mentioned history on Mobius was eleven years ago when he was allowed to work for a New Mobian military ordnance company called Extro, with descriptions saying he was 'hardworking' and a 'talented genius' during his time there.

A year later, he was able to outsmart all employees and security in the company, taking over all of their resources and technology by force before escaping deep into Old Mobius with them. Many Extro employees also abruptly went missing during that time, suggesting kidnapping. On top of that embarrassment, the government and military's attempt to take everything back from Robotnik ended in disaster, causing several hundred casualties, and they never touched each other again. A 'shoot-to-kill' policy had remained in place with regards to Robotnik from then on, and even if he were captured, the country in question was hardly hesitant to use the death penalty.

Since then, he has continually terrorized people with powerful robots and insane schemes – none particularly well-documented – mostly in Old Mobian areas, some of which border New Mobian ones, though in the end always foiled by Sonic the Hedgehog. Tails and Knuckles were mentioned to help him as well. Nevertheless Robotnik has continued to hide rather well, always waiting to strike again.

Alan finally had one more idea. He looked up information of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles to see how they were popularly perceived. Sonic had the most available, due to having appeared in public in both New and Old Mobian areas, even greeting crowds and giving interviews. There was a movie and a comic book series about him, as well as rumors of a future video game.

Less could be found about Tails, due to his fear of the spotlight – there were a few photos of him, info about his flight and tech skills, as well as descriptions about how he was distrusted by some members of the public due to his twin tails, causing him to be labeled a 'kitsune', a legendary demon fox of some sort.

Meanwhile, virtually nothing could be found about Knuckles beyond the fact that he guarded Angel Island.

"Wow," Tails remarked. "I've never actually thought of looking up about ourselves on the internet. Kinda interesting, actually."

"See Tails, I told you not everyone out there hates your guts," a smiling Sonic said, who was now standing behind them, having looked over their own internet descriptions.

"I believe it, Sonic, just…one day, okay?" Tails turned back to Alan. "So what do you think?"

"I guess I learned a lot. Rather New Mobius-centric though."

"Yeah, that's what happens when only half the world uses it."

"Could be a problem. It seems to me much of Robotnik's history before he got picked up by that company must have occurred in Old Mobius, then." He got up from the seat. "Yeah, I need to get out there and meet him."

"Hey, just one question?" Sonic said.

"Yeah?"

"If whatever you plan to do really works, what are you going to do with him?"

"Well, since you're the closest thing to being the local, uh, sheriff, I guess I'll leave him to you. Technically, it's your jurisdiction."

"Hmm…yeah, maybe I'll see what the other towns think. It could be a bit difficult though."

"Why?"

"Tails?" Sonic turned to his friend.

The fox quickly explained. "Uh, well, you won't find it on the internet, but Robotnik, we managed to get him a few times in the past, so he's actually been in prison, or rather prisons, before. Around the Old Mobian areas."

Doherty did not like the feeling of where this was going.

"But he's got more than one hideout. Quite a lot. Without removing every trace of them, his remaining robots can still come from those hideouts and free him. Messily. A few of those prisons he's been in don't exist anymore."

"Jesus."

"Don't worry. I think it's still worth a try," Sonic assured, ignoring the exclamation Alan used that neither he nor Tails understood. "I'll go around and ask."

"So there's another reason to go and talk to him then." Alan remembered how he was supposed to assume the worst. If Robotnik really broke out of prisons before, would they still let him back in? Not to mention the few pictures of Old Mobian prisons he saw just now didn't seem much better or more advanced than the ones in third-world countries on Earth. But if he could help take down all of Robotnik's hideouts, it likely wouldn't matter anymore. "Alright, so that's settled. I have also one question."

"What is it?" Sonic asked.

"Why do you call him Eggy? Or Eggman? Whatever?"

Sonic just smirked. "When you see him in person, I think it will be pretty obvious."


	6. Chapter 5: Investigation

**Chapter 5: Investigation**

Inside a facility hidden deep within the mountains, the lone and overweight mad scientist was beginning to wonder if always staying hidden like this was still working, and that it was time to change tactics. Simply sending robots out every now and then didn't seem to do much good. He could only build so much of those. Besides, that was not the only weapon he had here…_and I may finally be able to use them_.

Robotnik shifted his thoughts to that of Sonic the Hedgehog. That rodent and his friends Tails and Knuckles had really been the sole obstacle to his goal since the beginning: to conquer as much of Mobius as possible, starting with the Old portion first. He shook his head as he thought about how they most likely felt so heroic and morally upstanding to oppose him every time. _If only they knew, _he thought bitterly. _These people are getting exactly what they deserve._

Seated on a leather chair in front of various computer screens showing the views from the few scout robots he had outside, Robotnik laid out his latest prizes on the desk, grinning. The blue, red and golden Chaos Emeralds lit up the otherwise dark chamber he was in with their shining colors, ironically the same as the fur of his arch-nemeses. "Henceforth, I will be the only one to ever laugh on all of planet Mobius!" He declared to himself out loud before letting out, of course, a powerful, unpleasant laugh, as if that were true already.

His laughing was interrupted rudely as one of the monitors on the wall began buzzing. Regaining his composure, a slightly irritated Robotnik glanced at the one doing it. He was taken aback by what he saw. It had been a while since that happened. And even longer since _this _did.

The screen indicated that the scout robot was looking at what Robotnik thought he would never see again. He put aside all thoughts of defeating Sonic for a moment. This was a very interesting development indeed.

* * *

><p>"Hey!" Alan Doherty called out as he stood in front of the small hovering scoutbot, facing into what he hoped was its optics. He had his armor and all of his equipment on him, with one change: the letters 'FBI' on the back had been scraped off, and in such a way that it would not be possible to tell it had ever been there.<p>

Doherty had arrived here on foot, on a meadow in front of various mountains, after being informed that this place had a number of scoutbots patrolling the area, making it his best shot at finding a possible nearby location where Robotnik was hiding. He was quite thankful that the sunset was cooling and windy.

"Hey!" he called again, pretending to panic. "I saw your face on one of your robots. I'm sure damn glad to see another human here! That blue, uh, talking animal with spikes that can run super fast is hunting me down, and I barely managed to hide from him and his friends, you gotta help me out! They're going to take me away again, damn it, unless you help me! Please! I don't know how the hell I even came here, and they won't listen to me. Could you let me lie low where you are?"

On the other end of the line, Robotnik was considering the man's words, unsure what to make of them. Could they be true? Was it in Sonic's nature to do this kind of thing? He seriously couldn't tell. Had it been the other mobians mentioned instead, it would be much more likely.

But what he was more conflicted about was the man's request to be allowed to stay in his lair. Robotnik himself was literally the only person on the planet to know its location. Was it a good idea to change that?

"Look," Alan continued, sensing the doubt after getting no response. He made himself sound a bit calmer. "A guy like you is probably hiding in a secret area, and I don't blame you if you don't really feel like sharing it. But even if I meet you, what use do I have killing you? Only you can operate these robots, right? Without them, I might as well go back and dance in front of those people. And besides, I don't think they're gonna tell me how to get back to Earth, so I can only come to you for that. You must have come here because of that weird glowing gemstone anyway, so you have to know how. Please. Otherwise you can just blow me up right here. I saw what that supersonic hedgehog can do to your robots. If I had no choice, I would prefer it your way than his." Doherty stepped closer to the robot, putting on as much desperation as possible on his expression. "Please."

Robotnik simply stood there in his chamber stroking his chin. Looking closely, he could see that this guy was a soldier of some sort. That could prove useful. In any case, it was better to have a grunt with a gun on his side rather than Sonic's. Best to take him in and see what use he could provide, even if Robotnik didn't exactly have vacant sidekick positions to fill. In the worst case scenario, he could always have the man thrown out…or be forced to do what the others who _didn't _willingly come to him did.

* * *

><p>After several seconds, the scoutbot finally made a whirring sound as it turned around and began hovering away slowly. Doherty watched it, wondering if it was motioning for him to follow. This model of scoutbot did not appear to have any monitors or speakers for direct communication.<p>

When the robot turned around again to look at Alan, as if to check whether he was coming, he made up his mind. As Alan started moving, so did the robot as it turned away and hovered towards the mountain range.

It had been a while since Alan had to climb mountains, especially with no real safety gear. He managed nevertheless, and it was helped by the fact that it wasn't very steep or high. If he wasn't careful though, he could still end up cutting himself into pieces on some of the sharper rocks on the lower levels. As he struggled to grab onto ledges here and there, the scoutbot simply hovered over everything, occasionally turning around to look at Alan as if to mock him.

Almost an hour later, Alan finally climbed onto a flat surface near the top. He followed the bot into a small cave. For a moment, it looked as if it were a dead end. The bot stood in front of the wall, or the most vertical and smooth part thereof, opposite the entrance. Seconds later, the surface slid open to the side mechanically, revealing a large opening into…something. _I knew it_.

Alan continued following the robot as it went through a tunnel that was very much not natural. All of its surfaces were of metal and steel, looking rather aged with uneven colors, dents, marks and scratches. They were still clean though, even if not completely pristine. Robotnik obviously must have been taking care of this place, and was most definitely nearby.

The tunnel was barely lit up by its weak ceiling lights. The robot entered the only door at the end, and when Alan entered through it as well, he saw he was in a narrow, rectangular room, also not well lit, with glass windows on both sides. Behind the windows were what appeared to be offices, but there was no one in them.

Alan was beginning to feel somewhat unsettled. Was this supposed to be a security checkpoint? There were supposed to be people behind these windows, these desks. Robotnik was known to work alone, as far as anyone knew. Why would he design a place that required human, or rather mobian, supervision?

_Unless he didn't_. Robotnik's technology was mostly stolen in the first place, after all. Could this whole place simply be part of it? The internet had been admirably vague about precisely what technology Robotnik had stolen last time other than robots. For whatever reason, Extro had decided building a facility here in Old Mobian territory was strategic for them. Must have been quite a war they were preparing for back then, though it most certainly wasn't one including Robotnik.

Through the next door Alan found himself in a completely dark room with no illumination. He was unable to see where the robot was, as it had no lights turned on.

For a moment Alan feared the worst to come out of the darkness. Just because he was a human didn't mean Robotnik would immediately trust him. He wasn't meant to know where this place was. Something was definitely going to happen. To him. Remembering what he brought, he brought out his rifle to activate its mounted tactical flashlight.

As he did that, it was not the only light to turn on. A much larger one that made up the whole ceiling suddenly bathed the room in stark whiteness, causing Alan to shut his eyes reflexively. He reopened them as soon as possible, weapon raised, fully expecting to see a threat in front of, or around him.

Instead, there wasn't anything. The room was now revealed to be somewhat large in square area, with a plain steel floor, a glass wall dividing it into half to Alan's right after he entered it. On the opposite wall were two metal doors, one on the side Alan was in, another in the other half.

Other than that, there really was nothing. Even the robot earlier had disappeared. Both sides of the room were clear of any objects and persons except Alan himself.

At least until the door on the other side suddenly opened, which Alan could see but not hear. The glass was soundproof and possibly bulletproof as well. If whatever was entering was a threat, he might not be able to shoot it. Nevertheless, he raised his rifle at the figure that came through…

Dr. Ivo 'Eggman' Robotnik stepped calmly into the room. Unlike Doherty, he had nothing to fear. The fat mad scientist walked up to the glass to see the first human he had ever seen since he came here. On the opposite side, Alan was still aiming his rifle, even though he knew it was pointless.

Grinning, Robotnik snapped his fingers, causing the glass between him and Alan to shift itself slightly, though it was hard to tell exactly how. Once that was done…

"Oh, put that thing down and quit being so nervous," Robotnik began, his tone slightly amused and condescending. "If I wanted you dead I wouldn't have let you come all the way in here. I have better things to do, you know." His General American-accented voice could be heard clearly through the glass, unlike the door earlier. The glass shifting must have allowed sound through somehow.

Realizing he was probably right, Alan lowered his weapon and put on the safety. He looked at the mad scientist and realized Sonic was right. He really did look like a human egg on legs, dressed in a red elaborate coat with jet black trousers and shoes. His baldness only helped with the resemblance. The most unnaturally fat person he had ever seen. Of course, laughing about that in his mustached face right here was probably not a good idea.

"Yes, I know you are thinking about my looks and weight," Robotnik spoke up, eyebrows raised over his sunglasses. He obviously wasn't that stupid. "And no, I do not appreciate jokes about it. Sonic has made enough of that about me." He cringed angrily. "Grrh, just thinking about it, it makes me want to-"

"Wait, wait, who's Sonic?" Alan asked, playing dumb and not wanting to waste his own time hearing rants. "Is it that blue spiky guy who runs extremely fast?"

Robotnik quickly stopped himself and cleared his throat. "Ah, yes, my apologies. Just a little…pet peeve of mine. And yes, that is him. Sonic the Hedgehog, hero of Mobius…or so they say."

"This planet's called Mobius huh? Anyway…what's up with him and his friends? I didn't do a damn thing. What did you do to piss him off?"

"Hey," Robotnik snapped, "I didn't say you could ask me questions first."

_Damn_. "Alright, alright, sorry, you're the boss here. I, uh, I guess I should first thank you first for letting me in here." He wondered if that was the only true thing he would say here. "Alan Doherty."

"Doctor Ivo Robotnik," the fat scientist introduced himself, enunciating every syllable overdramatically, "And no, you may not call me anything else other than that, except maybe 'boss'. Oh, and you're welcome," he hastily added.

"If you didn't let me come here I really don't know what I could have done. I wasn't exactly trained to deal with the Justice League out there."

"What happened between you and them?"

"I got teleported to this place with the glowing gem in my hand, confused and freaked the crap out of me. Then I saw Sonic and his flying friend fighting some robots, which had your face on them. After they destroyed them, they saw me and tackled me down before I could even open my mouth. Literally. Jesus, they were _fast_. They saw I had the gem, and they accused me of working for you, and they wouldn't hear what I had to say at all. Sonic and a whole gang of his furry friends from a nearby town locked me up, but fortunately their security was really pathetic for what they obviously considered dangerous. They didn't even have Sonic stay to watch me, and I thanked God very much when it was clear no one else ran as fast as him after I broke out and took my stuff back."

Robotnik crossed his arms. He was silent for a while as he considered the story.

_Come on, come on…_

"Yes, absolutely nothing less than what I expect from them. Nice to see you got out."

_Whew._ "Without Sonic, they seem like all bark and no bite. Okay, maybe some actually did try to bite me. Savage freaks. But not that difficult to deal with."

"Where exactly did you learn to do that? What do you work as?"

Alan was prepared for that question. "Well, some would probably call me a mercenary. Maybe an assassin, even."

"So as long as people pay you, you don't care who's in your sights?"

A shrug. "Usually. And if I may, I sense an opportunity already."

"Hmm?"

"Alright, first off, you came here the same way I did, right? That weird glowing emerald."

Robotnik was silent for a moment. His face showed no emotion. "Yes, exactly."

"You must have been here for a long time and be pretty smart to be able to field stuff like this hideout and a robot army. You probably know how these emerald things work. At least, that's what I heard Sonic accuse you of while he came after me."

"Like the back of my hand," Robotnik boasted, grinning.

"You have a problem with that Sonic. I have a problem with being stuck on this planet. You also seem like a pretty smart man, making robots, having a secret hideout like this…if you can promise me a way back to Earth, I can promise to help do whatever it takes to bring Sonic down."

"Really? But you don't even know who I am or who Sonic is!"

Doherty looked straight into Robotnik's eyes. He had to pull this off properly, which meant no blinking. "Sonic attacked me. You didn't. I think that's enough for me to make a decision for now."

Robotnik stroked his chin in contemplation. "You know, I'm not really looking for assistants right now…"

"So am I in or not?"

"Well, that depends on what you know how to do. Besides using a gun, of course."

Now this was something Alan would not be able to fool his way through. "I admit I'm not much of an electronics guy. Machines, I have experiences in repairing cars. If your robots aren't too complex, I can give it a go, at least in assembly, double-checking and such."

"Hmm…" Robotnik frowned with a look of uncertainty. "You're not offering me much, if anything, that I can't do myself."

"It is pretty thin, I know. But come on, two pairs of hands are still better than one. And I think I can learn. Who knows how long I will be here anyway? Worst case scenario? I just stay out of the way."

_Oh, that you will do_.

Alan leaned closer towards the glass. Time to play another card. "Other than that, there may be more advantages to a human soldier than a robot one than you think."

"Such as?" Eggman sounded very doubtful indeed, almost offended, even.

"Now I'm not questioning your ability to build robots. In fact, they can still be very useful to me. But here's the thing: I'm standing right here. The robots that you sent to fight Sonic aren't. Sonic could have killed me, but he didn't. Am I correct in assuming he isn't the kind to take lives?"

"Indeed he isn't. Good guess."

"Then there could a weakness of his that can be exploited. I'm a pretty good shot. I can make him…regret that decision. And there are the practical factors. I don't know if you have a stealth robot or something like that, but I think someone like me can sneak up onto him or others better than a machine. Plan an ambush, something like that."

A few seconds of silence. "Fair point."

"Look, I could talk more about that, but the most important thing is I have already decided which side to take. And frankly it's not really my choice. If they didn't treat me like a threat when I first came in contact with them, I wouldn't want to be one to them right now just because they wouldn't get off my back. I guess they've never heard of self-fulfilling prophecies."

Robotnik simply laughed at this. "No. I don't believe they have," he concurred.

Alan felt something sounded a bit off about him when he said that, but didn't comment on it. "Right. Let's get down to business. Before I can do anything, I need some information. Not just about Sonic. This whole place. And you, too."

"About me? Why?"

Doherty shrugged. "It's how I work. I do everything I can, with the only condition being that I know who my employers are. And my reward, of course. I hope there's nothing wrong with that."

Robotnik heaved a sigh before replying, "I suppose not. Fine, about what I said earlier, maybe I am looking for an assistant after all. Sonic and his pals have caused me quite the robot shortage. Maybe we'll see if you can make up for that. But you better have something good for me." He turned to walk toward the door he used earlier. "Come on in then. I'm sure you're glad to be able to leave this room." As he approached the door, he snapped his fingers again, causing the glass to shift back into its original position.

Alan realized that it also caused something else to happen as headed towards the other door on his side of the room. On the wall opposite the glass, which he failed to see until now, he saw what seemed like air vents being closed and hidden by sliding panels. Only then did he understand what Robotnik said.

* * *

><p>"Sonic, you think he could actually do that?" Tails asked his surrogate brother, having heard the entire conversation through the small earpiece he'd given Alan before the insertion. He was pretty sure Robotnik wouldn't be able to detect it. They were monitoring the progress through the fox's computer. The location of the facility was actually already marked on a map screen, but the operation wasn't over yet.<p>

"No way, bro. My senses aren't just for running, you know," Sonic, seated next to Tails, confidently replied. "Can't believe we found yet another one of his chill-out spots."

"I know, right? Hope Alan can somehow find the others while in there."

"Yep." Deep down however, Sonic was hoping Alan could find out something else, something that could quench the unease he began to feel after Alan and Robotnik finished speaking. Something about Alan's cover story…

* * *

><p>Fifteen minutes later, Doherty found himself wowed by the size of the facility that he was walked through, but left cold by the utter lack of life in it. There were many, many rooms placed throughout the labyrinth of steel corridors and walkways. And all of them were empty, barring some being filled with mechanical parts he didn't recognize. Parts of the place appeared to be used less than others, with less lighting and more dust.<p>

He wouldn't admit it, but Alan had to give credit to Robotnik for being able to live completely alone in this huge, lifeless facility for years. Who wouldn't go crazy doing so? Alan stopped at that last point. _Maybe he has already_. _Or always was_.

Finally the two men were in a control room of some sort, lighted up by various colors like a disco, to Alan's curiosity. A large metal table was in the center, surrounded by chairs, and on the far end, a wall filled with many monitor screens. Each of them showed the viewpoint of a scout robot patrolling the outside, and Alan quickly realized his face had appeared on one of these.

On a smaller table just under the monitor screens lay the reason for the strange lighting in the room, causing Alan to halt in surprise. There they were! The three Chaos Emeralds recently taken from Angel Island were in plain sight, practically begging to be saved.

"Something wrong?" Robotnik asked.

"Oh, I…just didn't think there'd be more than one of these things," Alan quickly replied. That one wasn't really a lie, though. "I just remembered Sonic mentioning it in plural."

"Beautiful, aren't they?" The fat scientist walked over to them and cradled one with an obnoxious grin, staring at it like it was the most precious thing in the world. It definitely was to him. Most people would look perfectly normal doing the same thing, but the knowledge of who Robotnik was made the image somewhat disturbing in Alan's eyes.

_Speaking of knowing him…_Alan decided it was best not to waste time anymore. "Alright, that's some fascinating stuff, but could I ask about other things instead?"

"Who I am, correct?" Robotnik guessed, his back turned against his guest and still looking over the Emerald meticulously.

Alan was aware that he could simply pull out his gun and shoot this guy right here, right now. The Emeralds were right there for him to take, and he had mentally tracked his route from the entrance while coming here. Then he would just need to give them to Sonic or Knuckles, and finally, home sweet home.

But then the mystery would never be solved. Alan reminded himself that that was exactly why he came here. Not to mention this was not the way he was supposed to work. _Save as many lives as possible, both innocent and guilty_.

There was more to this than it seemed, and the best time to ask questions was now. Alan was sure Robotnik would be far less likely to talk if he got Sonic and Tails charging in, which he could right now, and putting his fat butt in a jail cell. And then he would eventually be broken out by another robot brigade from another hideout anyway.

Besides, Alan had no idea how what security would be like at the entrance should he kill him now. "Yeah. If you don't mind."

Robotnik was silent again. He put the Emerald back down on the table before turning around to face Alan. There was a clear frown on his forehead, and he wasn't smiling.

"I…" he began, "am Doctor Ivo 'Eggman' Robotnik, engineering genius, former head researcher in Area 51."

"Area 51? Seriously?" It did make sense though. Where else would there be more secrecy? No wonder that investigation went nowhere.

"Yes. Where else do you think that gemstone could have been taken to, huh? And anyway I wasn't finished. I have been trying to take over this world for ten years. And with your help, I won't have to try any longer."

Alan just stared blankly. "Oh kay…before I ask how, may I ask why?" he asked with eyebrows raised. "I'm pretty sure it's not because Sonic called you fat."

"Because they deserve it."

Doherty didn't say anything. He leaned against the table, his expression telling Robotnik to go on.

"If you are wondering who drew first blood, I'll just give you a hint: you are not the first human to be captured by them after being teleported here. They have done it before, fifteen years ago." The fat man walked up closer, his eyes level with Alan's. Though it wasn't apparent due to the sunglasses, they were flashing with rage. "And I wasn't as lucky or skilled as you to be able to escape."

Alan stood up now, hoping he did not seem shocked. He had meant his cover story earlier to be just plausible enough, and now he was learning that it was in fact a recap of his target's backstory. Was this why he had been let in so easily? "What…happened then?"

"Four years of torture, experiments, jeering, public displaying in cages and what have you. All because I was different from them." The bitterness in his voice was unmistakable. "It was the same everywhere I went, or rather, where I was taken to. Not one came in defense of me. Not even one. Tell me, what kind of society does that?"

Doherty had to admit there was a disturbing possibility that that could be true. The few mobians he had met other than Sonic's own little circle, the ones in the village, were not friendly to him in the slightest. But that one had to be because of Robotnik, right? "So…even if you never came here, they would have done the same to me?"

"Without a doubt. Speaking of doubts, if you are having any about my story…" Robotnik slowly reached for the buttons on his red suit and opened them up slowly. After a while, he revealed his body beneath it. What Alan saw actually caused him to gasp.

Robotnik's chest was filled with so many old scars and marks that they actually took up more area than that of healthy human skin. "And this…is just the front," he mentioned as he closed his suit up again. Thankfully. Even without the wounds, his body was surely not going to appear on the cover of a health magazine anytime soon.

"Alright, alright…" Alan wanted the story to continue for the sake of getting his mind off this. But he wondered if that would make things worse. "Then how did you get this hideout and a robot army?"

"Well, publicly torturing me was only their first mistake." A smile formed on Robotnik's face, though it wasn't the happy kind. "Their second one was when they found out about my engineering skills as I tried to piece together a crude drill to escape. It apparently impressed them enough that I was taken away to a…different place. A high-tech one. I was offered a job."

_Extro_, Alan thought.

"The company developed military weapons and needed my help. They learned about my…predicament in those backwards hellholes. So they gave me leeway. They let me learn about their technology, things I had never seen before. They gave me a place to eat, to sleep. They wanted to show they were different from the savages in Old Mobius. At least, that was the official position," he said as he began to chuckle coldly.

"But they weren't different," Alan guessed cynically.

"Still enough prejudice that I could probably have invented something to physically measure it," Robotnik confirmed. "But of course, it worked in my favor. It blinded them, made them underestimate me. After a year with them, I made them realize their error. Now? Nearly everything they have belongs to me. Their computers, their robots, their factories, their secret bases, such as this one…"

"You mean there's more than one of these facilities?" Alan asked for the second time since he got teleported here. Finally he was making some progress.

"Oh, yes. And I would still have more…if it weren't for that meddling hedgehog."

"What about him?"

"Sonic, and later his friends, came out as the only people who could challenge me every time I unleashed a plan to make mobians regret what they did to me. They think they're all high and mighty, always stopping the big evil tyrant from taking over the world!" As he said that, he unexpectedly raised a fist and brought it down hard on the room's central table. His arm trembled, and his teeth were showing. "They think they know it all…"

Alan had to suppress any expression of surprise again. Sonic and Tails. Could they have known about this? _But if they did, why would they go through the trouble of sheltering me?_ He mentally ordered himself to calm down before more questions popped into his head.

Robotnik suddenly grinned. "And they're probably thinking they can defeat me by destroying each of my bases whenever they find one! Fools! I can rebuild them, you know, over and over again, in different places, and if they think they can find a map of all of them at once, they are tragically mistaken! Hohohoho…"

_Uh oh. _"But couldn't they find out where your bases are by looking through that company's information and records?" he asked, sounding worried, though not for the reason Robotnik thought.

Robotnik calmed himself down just enough to answer. "Oh, of course! Which is why I have already destroyed them! They don't know anything about the true power these bases have, including how I can relocate to areas the company has never looked at! More easily than they think!" And then he started laughing again.

The outburst hit Alan like a bullet. _Goddammit._ He wondered if it was time to terminate the mission. _No_, he told himself. Robotnik wasn't done yet. There was no way he would be saying all of these again in different circumstances. There may be something left yet.

Something that could determine the black or white in this. Something to help influence Alan what to do. _The investigation is not over yet_.

"Anyway, like I said," Robotnik continued after not speaking for a moment, sounding relatively calmer now, "I took a lot of what they had. Including…uh, you see, I was wondering if you were up for some…target practice?"

"Huh?"

"Follow me. You get to prove to me how well you can indeed shoot," Robotnik said as he started walking towards the door.

The two men exited the door and headed down towards the corridor. After several turns, they came to a long walkway in front of a single pair of metal double doors at the end.

As they approached, Alan began to hear sounds coming from behind the doors. He wasn't sure what they-

Alan Doherty felt the shivers as he realized it sounded like…cries? Wailing? Moaning? Just then, he was reminded of a piece of info he read off the internet earlier. And before that, Sonic had mentioned the same thing too.

When Robotnik finally reached the doors without slowing down and pushed them open, Doherty's jaw fell in utter shock as he saw exactly what he thought it was. _Dear God in Heaven!_

Robotnik, on the other hand, was not fazed by the sight at all. "Consider this a preview of what will happen to this planet."


	7. Chapter 6: In And Out

**Author's Note: Okay, I'll admit it. I didn't plan the middle to later part of this chapter thoroughly enough, and had to improvise a lot. I felt like I just wanted to get it over with, so apologies if it's too obvious while reading. So let's get it on.**

**Chapter 6: In and Out**

When Alan Doherty left the Army, he had never expected to see anything like this again. It was naïve, of course, to think that way. In this job, anything could happen. Anything was possible. Including the resurfacing of old nightmares.

Whatever this large, poorly-lit room used to be, Robotnik was now using it as a prison. Several rows and columns of cages took up nearly the whole place, with a few corridors in-between, one of which both Alan and Robotnik now stood in.

Nearly every cage contained several mobian prisoners of many species. At first glance alone, it was clear that they were maltreated and malnourished, all looking like they'd never taken a bath in ages, some having obvious wounds and scars, as well as a few of them being disturbingly skinny. About the only good news was that the cages had enough space for them to stand in, though not really to move around. In the nearby cage to the left, only one of the prisoners still had an outfit in good enough shape for one to read the label on the left breast – Extro.

The instant Alan made these observations, the already loud wailing and moaning immediately changed to far louder cries of snarling and growling – like actual animals. The mobians rattled fiercely at the bars, all glaring with bloodshot eyes at the two humans at the entrance. Combined with the echoes bouncing off the walls, the volume was comparable to that of a rock concert. _Hell, Robotnik probably gets the same amount of enjoyment from this_.

But Alan wasn't hearing anything. For a brief moment, he was back in Kabul, slowly making his way through the corridors of a hidden Taliban prison his team recently discovered. He remembered the cries of the captured, raped and otherwise violated women in the cells. And worse, their appearances…

His memory was interrupted by Robotnik, though it was hard to say if it made him feel any better. "These are my slave laborers," the fat scientist said as if he were giving a museum tour. "Currently thirty people in all. When I want a robot built, they build it – or else."

"But wouldn't…don't you have a factory for that kind of thing?" Alan asked silently.

"Sure I do. But what is a factory without workers? And before you ask about quality, well, the last time someone tried to sabotage me, I had him killed by the same robot he was supposed to assemble." He flashed an unnerving grin, but it quickly disappeared, replaced by scowl. "And apparently, that wasn't a good enough lesson. Someone tried it again recently. I wanted to hand out yet another ironic death, but since you're here..."

Alan gulped, eyes wide open. "You want me to perform…an execution?"

Robotnik remained oblivious to Doherty's horror, which he couldn't even hide anymore. "No, I said I wanted to you to perform target practice. Unit 31, bring her out!" he commanded.

Alan watched as a hovering robot, different from the ones outside, seemed to come out from the ceiling, apparently a security compartment, which was some forty feet above, and stopped in front of a cell far down the corridor. It unlocked the door with its skinny arms before going in to forcefully grab the one deemed guilty out. The prisoner was held by the shoulders, and the robot hovered all the way upwards. Even at this distance, it was clear the mobian was wounded, weak and dying, with no strength to struggle, though even if she freed herself, the height between her and now the ground would be enough to break her legs. The snarling and growling grew even louder as the event unfolded.

At the same time two other similar hoverbots also came out from the ceiling as well. They floated over to the two men standing at the entrance, but both trained their optics – and maybe their weapons, though this was harder to tell with the lack of light – only on the newcomer. Alan noticed this, and quickly put two and two together. It made him feel sick. Someone was going to fire a shot in this room, one way or another.

"So? What are you waiting for?" Robotnik asked, sounding impatient.

"Are you absolutely sure about this?" Alan asked back, keeping all emotions in his voice to a minimum.

"Well, of course. How else would I know you can be useful to me?" came the reply, the tone having just a tiny hint of 'if you know what I really mean'.

Finally he thought of something. "Sonic moves pretty fast. How is a stationary target, no matter how far, going to help me shoot one that moves like that?" Alan replied. Even disregarding how he wanted to sidestep what was really a loyalty test, it was a legitimate flaw to point out.

But this only gave Robotnik another idea. "Hmm…in that case, Unit 31, move the target around as quickly as you can!"

Unit 31 began moving around the air, at a somewhat rapid speed. The mobian looked like she wanted to scream as the robot circled around the top of the chamber, but produced no sound. Her voice would be overwhelmed by the snarling anyway. The robot's motion and speed seemed really more comparable to that of Tails, albeit still slower.

Robotnik crossed his arms. "Not the fastest, I know, but I can devise a better test later. For now…show it to me."

Internally, to say Alan was kicking himself for making that suggestion was an understatement. _What the hell have I done? _The only option left was calling Sonic and Tails, the cavalry, in, but was there even enough time for that? Would Robotnik notice?

Not to mention, the investigation was still not over yet. Alan hadn't found out what Robotnik's plan was. What he planned to do with the Chaos Emeralds.

And that was ultimately more important, wasn't it? Alan knew if he didn't kill this one person, he'd end up killing himself and making the entire planet like this room somehow.

"Alan?" the voice from the earpiece crackled softly. It was Sonic, and the concern could clearly be heard even with the poor reception. "You don't have to do this. We can come in right now. Tails and I are actually just outside the mountain and can break through the entrance and set off the alarms to get Eggy's attention. But you have to decide, since he might realize you led us to him. If you want us to come in, you know what to say. But…you gotta hurry. Please."

Doherty was sure Sonic wanted him to give the signal at thus avert this victim's death. But as much as he dearly wished to, he couldn't. Breaking in now would mean Robotnik instantly suspecting Alan for being responsible. Even if he could convince him that he was innocent, he would likely still be asked to go and shoot Sonic. In these winding, narrow corridors, who knew what could happen? Wouldn't it also be too obvious if he deliberately avoided shooting Sonic? And of course, he would undoubtedly be away from Robotnik while being tasked to do so, and he wouldn't get to find out his plan. Or even if he could stay next to him, suddenly asking about such things would make Robotnik suspicious again. And perhaps even-

There were just far too many questions and uncertainties. Doherty made up his mind, however god-awful it felt. He raised his M4, set it to single shot, and took aim at the mobian hanging from the still circling hoverbot up above. After a while, Alan found himself able to keep track of the target and judge roughly where to shoot, despite the motion. His finger was at the trigger. Alan could only tell himself that he was really doing a favor to the dying woman. And Sonic. And all of Mobius.

* * *

><p>The sun had just gone down. On a cliff overlooking the mountain that Alan had climbed earlier to get into the base, Sonic and Tails were monitoring the situation, visually, by making sure no scoutbots were around, and in terms of audio, via the transmission from Alan's earpiece to Tails' wrist device.<p>

For now though, only one thing registered on their senses: the unmistakable crack of a gunshot. Two. Three of them, and more. They lost count before it eventually stopped.

Both of them stared at each other, neither able to utter a sound of their own.

* * *

><p>In the cage room, all the snarling and rattling ceased the instant Alan fired his weapon. Eight shots. Far fewer than he'd expected, but he wasn't about to celebrate that. Quite horribly, the now dead mobian fell off the robot's arms, crashed onto the side of one of the cages, and lay on the corridor in front of the two humans, motionless. Then there was nothing but quiet.<p>

Robotnik walked up to the corpse, and Alan felt like he had to see the perverse results of his own work, so he followed. Up close, the mobian appeared to be a cat, and it actually took a while to see where the shots hit due to how bloody her body was in the first place.

"Not bad at all!" Robotnik congratulated, doing so in the same way Alan's own friends would after a shooting competition. "You are officially in, then! Come, there is more we have to talk about."

_Damn right we are_. It was the only reason all this happened in the first place. Alan's face was a complete blank right now, staring at nothing.

"31, leave the body there for an hour. Let it sink in for them," he commanded before turning around to walk towards the door. The robot complied by hovering back up to its ceiling compartment and closing itself up there.

Rationally, Alan knew he should start moving too. There was nothing he could do here anymore. And he had to find out how Robotnik was going to make the whole planet like this chamber like he said he would.

Emotionally, all he wanted to do was to 'help' Robotnik by ending his miserable life right here, right now via cranial ventilation. Whatever happened to him, whatever other mobians did to him in the past was no excuse for all this.

As if to punctuate that last point, one of the prisoners in the cage behind him, also female, started moaning, probably to get his attention. Alan turned to face her, and saw that she was holding onto the bars tightly. She also appeared weak and disheveled, and her eyes showed no energy in them whatsoever. And yet she was still in slightly better shape than the others. Her mouth moved, and Alan barely could hear the words that came out. "Please…help us. We're sorry…so sorry…"

Alan stared at her for a moment. This was it. Not all mobians were like that which Robotnik described. Even if it weren't like that…he realized the two other robots were still staring at him. Unable to vocalize anything himself, he gave a very slight nod before turning away to walk towards the door. Robotnik's back was thankfully still turned to him.

Doherty slung his weapon back behind him before covering his mouth. "I'm sorry," he muttered very quietly, knowing the earpiece was sensitive enough to pick it up. "Five minutes. Please." Then he pretended to wipe sweat off the top of his mouth as he passed the robots and exited the chamber.

"I…I understand," came Sonic's reply, sympathizing. "But please, hurry up. Once is already too much."

A minute later they were back in the room with the Chaos Emeralds, whose shininess had not weakened at all. "So what do you actually plan to do with those?" Alan asked, keeping his voice steady.

"Oh, I don't have to do anything with them anymore, except keep them for future use, of course," the scientist replied gleefully as he typed away at a wall computer. "All I need to do now is prep the engines, the main weapons, and the backup, and finally-"

"Wait, what engines or weapons?" This was completely new to Alan. After that reflexive outburst, he silently scolded himself for forgetting to try and hide his surprise.

"You see, I decided that sending robots out every now and then is just not working anymore. I will be keeping them for other purposes, of course, but now, it is time for something all new," Robotnik declared as his fingers continued tapping away on the keyboard. The screen showed something about 'offloading to new site'. Then he stopped and stood up. "This facility is more flexible than even I previously thought. I found out that with a few modifications, this whole thing can actually rise out of the mountains and become a giant flying fortress!"

Alan kept quiet. He did not want to interrupt Robotnik as he finally gave away his scheme. To be fair, Robotnik seemed fully confident that it would happen soon, and as such did not find it premature at all to open his mouth.

"Once this place is airborne, I can devastate any target I so desire with its vaporizer cannon, unless they of course surrender to me. Here, let me show you."

Robotnik typed something, and the wall of monitors stopped showing the scoutbots' views. Instead, their separate screens now unified to show a computer simulation. It showed a large airborne fortress far above the ground firing some sort of energy weapon at a town below. After the energy beam hit, the only thing left of the town was a gigantic hole. The wall screens then returned to their usual programming. The whole thing looked somewhat crude and ridiculous, but Alan wasn't laughing.

"With this, I can enslave town after town, the same ones that tormented me, and force them to work for me to enslave even more towns or destroy them. But before that, I need to attack something else entirely first."

"What's that?"

"Angel Island." Robotnik pressed a few keys, and the wall screens showed the familiar floating island. "You see, there are even more emeralds than just these three. Seven of them, in fact, as well as a much larger and much more powerful one called the Master Emerald, so powerful that it is what causes this island to float in the first place." The screen zoomed in to show the large emerald on the altar in the center. "I haven't been able to take those emeralds until now because of Knuckles, the island's guardian." The screen showed the echidna resting on the altar's stairs. "You may have heard Sonic mention him?"

"Actually...yeah, I heard him say Knuckles, though I thought it was a joke at first."

"Oh, he's no joke. Knuckles is pretty tough against my robots...but he won't be when the last thing he sees is my fortress vaporising his entire island into nothing, leaving all the Emeralds for me to take." The simulation showed the fortress devastating the floating island, leaving nothing but the Emeralds falling into the sea below, which were collected by flying robots. The security feeds resumed after that. "_Then_ we'll see who's laughing! Hahahaha! Oh, and I guarantee you it won't be Sonic."

"That's where I come in, right?"

"Exactly. You will come up with a plan to shoot Sonic dead. Perhaps his two-tailed friend also. I'd suggest setting a trap of some kind. You can use my robots when and where you deem necessary."

That was quite a tall order, to say the least, though it was one Alan knew he would not carry out. "They aren't my typical opponents. I'd need to know more about them."

"I'll give you any info on how to fight them if you wish, just use the other computer. It has files about them, Mobius and my robots too. In the meantime, there are just a few more things I need to check up here. This could take until tomorrow. If you can be done by then, then excellent. Rrrh, I can't wait…"

Alan wondered if there was anything he should ask Robotnik or look up in the computer regarding Sonic and Tails that he couldn't get out of talking to them directly. But he couldn't think of any. The only question he had left had nothing to do with them. "Okay, one last thing. Why?"

"Why what? You asked that already." Robotnik asked, sounding annoyed, still tapping on the keyboard. The text on the computer screen now read 'weapon systems 80% functional', 'engines 80% functional' and 'offsite backup complete'.

"Why do this? Just curious, but if you know so much about these Chaos Emeralds, to the point where you know how to send me back, why don't you send yourself back? Why go through all that trouble staying here to try and take over the world?"

The fat scientist just scoffed. "You don't get it, do you? I _have_ to take over them. It is a punishment they deserve. It is a reward I deserve. And I have the ability and knowledge to do so, to rule over them. I've come so close before. They…they _need _a real boss to make them realize what they've done. So I think the real question is…" He put on that obnoxious grin again. "Why not?"

_Wow. Just wow_. As if he needed any more reason to stop this guy. He should have seen it coming. How many times throughout history had men actually vanquished their power when they saw no reason to?

"I'll see what I can do," Alan said while sighing. It was time already. "Sometimes, though, I wish I stayed at home."

"Well, so did I. Except I never really had one back in Area 51 anyway. That's right, I never had a real home in Earth's most secret facility. I'm just making my own here. Maybe all of this is a blessing in disguise for me."

What happened next, though, certainly wasn't one, as a loud buzzing sound could be heard from the wall of monitors. Robotnik glanced at it to see the feed of his scoutbots going out one by one, each screen being replaced with static and flashing red words: TECHNICAL ERROR.

The next thing he knew, alarms and sirens began going off outside the room, red and yellow lights flashing. More text appeared on the screens: INTRUDER DETECTED.

"What the…no, no, not now! Anytime but now!"

"Yes, now." Over the alarms, Robotnik heard a click sound. He turned around to see Alan aiming his pistol straight into the fat doctor's forehead.

If Robotnik scowled any further, he was probably going to have jaw problems. "You…you were-"

"Yes, I was, and I still am," Doherty replied, his tone now absolutely nothing like how it sounded ten seconds ago. He had enough of that bootlicking. "Now turn around and lock this door."

* * *

><p>Having finally heard Alan mention the code phrase, both Sonic and Tails instantly sprung into action.<p>

Phase one was to knock out all of the scoutbots, which were really just slightly modified versions of the black ones that attacked the town this morning. It was hardly a problem. That they all came to roughly the same spot to check what happened to the first one after it was reduced to scrap only made it easier. They handled them as quickly as possible before zipping through the blown door in the cave.

Sonic charged through the hidden front entrance the old-fashioned way. As they already knew where it was, Sonic wasted no time climbing the mountain or even having Tails carry him. Rather, he revved himself up in one spot and then let loose, tearing through the rocks and stones on the 'slope' directly in front of the cave entrance in one straight line, all fifty meters of it, before smashing through the hidden door with his momentum intact.

Inside, Sonic just kept moving, occasionally sliding on the floor while lowering himself to avoid machine gun fire from ahead, and then jumping into a spindash before the robots could adjust their aim, sawing through them effortlessly. Then he did the same with the doors, which had automatically sealed, not that it made a difference. Tails followed from behind, using his namesakes to cut up any robot that still had a big enough piece that reminded standing while monitoring his wrist device.

Sonic brought himself to a halt at a crossroads lighted up by spinning yellow and red lights. The noise from the alarms was loud, but it wasn't really new to him. "Where next, bro?"

"Check it out," Tails said, showing Sonic the small but clear screen on his wrist device, the glowing dot on it relative to their position, and a compass. "They're both to our approximate two o'clock and maybe forty meters from here, though…" He looked around. "This is probably going to be quite a maze."

"Not if I try this. Stand back a bit," Sonic said as he started dashing back and forth at an angle to the wall, towards and away from the direction Tails mentioned. In the limited space, he bounced himself back and forth like a pinball using his legs, and after finally building enough momentum, he curled into a spindash and tore a large hole through his target wall. Tails followed, shaking his head at his friend's impatience, though understanding that this was practical.

The big living saw continued its motion, tearing down more walls, the occasional unfortunate robot and other obstacles. Feeling sure that he was nearing forty meters, thanks to his instinct and years of training, he smashed through one more wall and door before he uncurled and planted his legs on the ground, slanted forwards and feet raised to activate his own brakes.

"Jesus, Sonic, way to make a shortcut," Sonic heard a familiar voice remark. He looked to the side to see Alan, who was aiming his pistol at Robotnik. Both men were standing in the two corners of the room that still remained, flanking the wall of monitors and the table with the Chaos Emeralds on it.

"Well, this is kinda urgent, you know. Nice to see the Emeralds there. Where're the prisoners?"

"Left out the door, keep going to the end. Where's Tails?"

The fox arrived just then and stopped next to the hedgehog. "Sonic, Alan! So we're all here, what do we do now?"

"Any chance of shutting down all the robots coming after us from here?" Sonic asked.

"Hah! I'd like to see you try," Robotnik responded, grinning madly. "They are all completely autonomous now. You should know, Sonic, you've been in my other bases!"

"Okay, in that case, I'm going to free those people first, Tails. You and Alan keep Robotnik and his duncebots away and make sure he doesn't take the Emeralds, I'll be quick!"

"Wait, Sonic!" Tails cried, but the hedgehog already raced off in the direction Alan mentioned without even nudging Robotnik with a one-liner. "Hate it when he does that…"

"Well," Robotnik began to say, "I guess the hedgehog believes his sidekick has grown up! He wouldn't leave something like this to you even just last year!" That earned him a hard punch from Alan in the face as the latter saw Tails looking hurt due to Robotnik's remark. Amazingly, his sunglasses did not break, though his nose probably did.

"Don't listen to him, just keep those bots away. Sonic trusts you, and so do I! Just do what you did in the town this morning. Want me to help?"

"Thanks, Alan. But how're you gonna do that?"

"Hold on. Just keep watch first," Alan said as he took something out from a side pack. Handcuffs. He placed on it the fat scientist's hand and connected it to the metal bar under the wall table. Then he brought out his carbine. "All right, now I'm ready for some _real _target practice."

"Good," Tails spoke quickly as he revved his tails up, "because here they come!"

Meanwhile, Sonic, after arriving at the jail entrance, was just mopping up the few robots stationed there, though he had to be careful to not let any of the shots hit the prisoners, who had a reason to cheer for the first time in ten years, and were naturally doing so. Once the last one fell, Sonic began bouncing off the doors of each cell in spindash mode, keeping his quills sharp enough to break the locks open but elastic enough to keep jumping back and forth.

Sonic broke open the last cell furthest away from the entrance, and began bringing himself to a stop. It happened even faster than usual as he saw something that nearly caused him to crash, though he was able to control that one. This, on the other hand…

On the ground was the mobian that Alan shot just now, in a small pool of blood. Her red eyes were still open, and her body lay in a grotesque fashion, limbs facing all directions. Sonic hadn't just stopped, he was frozen still.

The hedgehog was brought back to reality as he heard the metal clangs of the damaged cell doors collapsing, some of which were pushed down by the prisoners. "Hey, you're Sonic, right?" one of them timidly asked after coming out of a nearby cell.

"Uh…yeah," Sonic nodded. It made sense that they didn't really know who he was, outside of hearing Robotnik loudly ramble about him in front of them, due to how long ago they were caught. "I'm getting you guys outta here."

"Thank you so much. We've heard a lot about you. Lead the way," the mobian replied, actually bowing a bit.

"Wait, what about…" Sonic motioned towards the dead mobian on the floor.

"Nothing we can do about her anymore. We have to go. Don't worry, we can still move, most of us anyway."

After one last glance at the woman on the ground, the hedgehog sped up to the entrance, everyone giving way for him to do so. "Alright, let's- wait, wait a minute," Sonic suddenly said, remembering something he heard over Alan's earpiece.

"What is it?"

"Robotnik's forced you all to work on some doomsday energy weapon in this place, right? Where is it?"

"Uh, go out of this room, keep following the corridor and go straight till you see stairs heading downwards to your right. That's where it is, down there."

"Okay, I'll take care of that. First though, you follow me to where Tails and another human are standing, the guy who, uh, shot the girl."

"What? He's here? Doing what?" The mobian asked in a reflexive outburst. That guy sure didn't look like a friend of Sonic earlier.

"Believe it or not he's helping us, even while he was here, please don't attack him, okay? Please. Let's go."

"This isn't so hard!" Tails said as he dived towards the fourth security bot that came around the corner, namesakes spinning above him and sharpened. The machine stood no chance. "Running out of armor, Eggman? Or just ideas?" he asked the still handcuffed scientist, who had a bruise on his cheek, in an attempt to imitate Sonic.

"Oh, fine, you try and do better with second-rate metal, which I had to resort to thanks to you guys!" Robotnik shot back in frustration.

Alan himself knelt behind the remains of a corner of the room, keeping his weapon aimed far down the messy shortcut Sonic abruptly made earlier. He found it the best thing to do for now, since his weapon sight was meant for higher range engagements anyway. He hadn't had to shoot anything yet. Then he saw some moving shapes appear on the other end, getting close. Fast.

Tails moved again to engage more robots that have appeared from around the room, dodging their gunfire while covering the distance between them and himself. But even more came from the same direction, flowing out almost like water. Alan realized that the robots coming through the shortcut were headed towards Tails while the fox's back was turned towards them.

Time for some cover fire. Doherty started shooting in bursts. He made sure to aim for the 'head', or the closest thing to it, of each robot. His rifle rounds, which were designed for busting barriers, worked better than expected, ripping through the visors and optics of three of the four robots, rendering them blind. This caused them to lose control and swerve into each other rather than towards the fox. He continued shooting, causing noticeable damage with each shot.

Tails flew himself backwards after finishing off the big wave that came from around the room to knock the ones Alan shot back. Doherty quickly stopped firing, as he had to reload, though that also meant he wouldn't hit Tails accidentally. Judging by how fast the robots fell, it seemed that Robotnik wasn't kidding about the second-rate materials. "Huh, even my car has more armor than that."

"Oh, whatever!" was Robotnik's angered reply.

"Tails! Alan!" They both turned to see Sonic, who had just sped back out from the prison. "You guys okay?"

"Yeah! Even easier than this morning," Tails replied hurriedly after landing on his feet, vigilant for more robots to appear, even though Sonic's presence meant it wasn't so necessary now. "They almost ambushed me though, but Alan helped." He turned to Doherty. "Thanks!"

"No problem, but enough with that. Sonic, what do you plan to do now?"

"Just getting the prisoners out first," Sonic said before turning around. "Come on!"

"We're trying, Sonic, but some of us need help," the male mobian, who was leading the group, replied as he came out of the corner, walking slowly in obvious pain. Some of the people behind him were worse off, as they had to be carried by others, who didn't have that much strength themselves. As they approached what used to be the front door to Robotnik's security room, they stopped dead, eyes wide open as they saw Alan Doherty standing there. And behind him, a handcuffed Doctor Robotnik.

Seeing their chance for revenge, the prisoners instantly started lurching towards both humans, snarling out loud. Even the leader who had spoken reasonably to Sonic earlier suddenly acted like a wild animal that happened to wear clothes. A flurry of reactions ensued – Robotnik cowering in fear, Alan swearing and stepping back, but not aiming his weapon at them, both Sonic and Tails trying to hold them back and calm them down, and a female mobian among the group shouting. Her shout, however, was anything but feral. "Stop! Please!"

It was hoarse and raspy, but loud enough that everyone stopped what they were doing to see who it was. The woman who happened to be near the front of the group stepped out. Alan realized that it was the same person who had weakly called out to him earlier in the jail.

"This man is helping us," she spoke up in a much softer voice while motioning to Doherty. She looked straight at the man's concerned face. "He nodded to me back there. I could see it his eyes…I still can, actually."

Currently however, his eyes seemed full of regret. "I'm…sorry I had to shoot her. But if I had let Sonic in too soon, there were too many things that would have gone wrong. Sonic, I'll explain later."

Sonic stared at Alan intently as he felt the implication that Alan somehow did not trust his abilities. He was about to start arguing when the prisoners started moving again towards both humans.

"Then we should at least be able to kill Robotnik right here!" One of the male prisoners shouted, and everyone else howled in agreement.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Sonic called out, raising his hands and his voice, both out of needing to be heard properly and panic. "I'll handle him. But for now, you guys just head out of this place through this, uh, shortcut. I'm gonna bust this place up first before more robots come."

"Then what do I do?" Tails asked.

"You lead them outta here, Tails. Alan, you do the same for Robotnik. Oh yeah, and someone take the Emeralds."

"Okay, I'll do the last two." Alan was glad to hear that. This guy was going nowhere. And he was already sick of being in here anyway.

"I should be back out by the time you guys reach the front door. See you in a minute!" And with that, Sonic sped off down the corridor, before trashing a robot that had just appeared.

"Uh, okay, everyone, this way! Hurry!" Tails started flying again before heading through the large hole in the wall, back towards the entrance. Behind, the prisoners murmured in amazement, but didn't say anything due to the rush.

"I'll be behind you all," Alan called out after stuffing the Emeralds into his sidepacks. He was amazed how there was still enough space for that. Then he unlocked Robotnik's handcuffs, key in one hand and pistol aimed at his head in the other. "I'm only doing this because they are still prisons out there waiting for you. Hands up. Don't try anything," he warned, eyes locked onto his.

"By-the-book cop, eh? Oh, I have a feeling I won't have to," Robotnik casually said as he did what Alan told him to. He seemed to be trying not to grin.

Doherty ignored his comment and continued aiming his gun at Robotnik as the fat scientist finally began to move and follow the group, which was moving faster than Alan expected them to. Thankfully. "Hey, you're at the back. If any robots come from behind, I want them to try to go through you first."

Robotnik glared back as he realized what Alan was really saying about him, but kept silent. Alan moved through the makeshift tunnel sideways, keeping his right side facing Robotnik so that his gun remained trained on him at all times. He made sure to check both front and back between one-second intervals. It wasn't a very efficient way of mobility, but it was the safest he could think of.

"Alan, hurry up!" Tails called from in front, out of sight. "I'm pretty sure Sonic's going to blow up this place soon!"

"Goddammit, can't he wait just a little bit?" Alan responded loudly, feeling the frustration rising, though he kept it in.

Roughly a minute later, as Sonic promised, the entire group was halfway through the entry tunnel to the base when everything began shaking violently, startling everyone except Robotnik. Loud sounds, mostly explosions, could be heard from behind, though there were also the rapid footsteps of a certain hedgehog rocketing out. Sonic slowed down behind Robotnik, unable to continue at his speed with the limited space in the tunnel.

"Sonic, what just happened?" Alan asked, sounding concerned.

"I spindashed Robotnik's death ray, that's what! Problem is, it was hooked up to a bunch of unstable reactors filled with Chaos energy, so yeah. Sneaky move there, Eggster."

"Sneaky move? More like design necessity, spikyhead!"

More violent trembling and explosions made sure their argument did not continue as the group finally exited the cave. Fortunately, thanks to the sloped path Sonic had cleared while on his way in, the prisoners were able to walk, or rather slide, down what used to be a bunch of jagged, sharp rocks. It wasn't perfectly smooth, of course, and everyone held tight to each other as they went down bumpily. Here, Alan had Robotnik go in front for once as they slid down themselves, before Sonic finally followed. Tails, still flying, was spared this ordeal.

As Sonic started down the path, he narrowly avoided getting hit by the burst of flames that just exited the cave at a speed far faster than his own, a dragon breathing its last fire. Too bad then, Sonic thought, that there were still more hidden out there, and that they would have to find and beat them the old-fashioned way without Alan after all this.

* * *

><p>Sonic, Tails, Robotnik, Alan and the prisoners all moved, or were moved, away to a nearby smaller cave, one that didn't have any hidden base entrances. Once there, Alan removed the earpiece and gave it back to Tails.<p>

"Sheesh, now that was one hell of a slide," Alan commented as he rubbed his sore bottom, not really sounding amused. Many others were doing the same. He had stopped pointing his gun at Robotnik for now, who was out of earshot and probably knew better than to try and run from Sonic. "What now?"

"Hmm…" Sonic crossed his arms as he thought for a while, then he made his decision. "Okay, time for division of labor. I need to get these guys back to New Mobius, at least to a border checkpoint. Tails, you take the emeralds and give them to Knuckles. After that, you and I get on the Tornado and go tell the courts that we have Eggy. But until then, Alan, ya gotta keep watch on him. Just stay here."

"Wait, wouldn't they in NM be wanting his head? Why don't you just take him there with you?"

Sonic shrugged. "Trust me, it's a lot faster, not to mention more convenient, this way." He glanced at the panting prisoners, who hardly ever got to breathe the outside air, before continuing with a solemn look. "And, you know, I wish you didn't shoot that woman. It just…shouldn't have happened."

Alan frowned. "Look, get off of me on that, okay? If I called you in, he'd either get suspicious of me and have me killed on the spot, or ask me to go and shoot you. And I'd never have found out about the energy weapon."

"But we'd destroy it anyway!"

"Perhaps. Regardless, it is a risk I couldn't take. The most successful plans aren't necessarily our favorites. Besides, you know what else shouldn't have happened? Your people doing what they did to Robotnik and leaving it all from the internet." He lowered his voice, remembering Robotnik wasn't supposed to hear anything. "I'm not saying I blame you for all of that. You weren't mentioned until later, and you don't fit that description anyway. But seriously, that was screwed up."

Sonic sighed and looked downwards. "I know."

"Honestly, there was a split second in which I considered switching sides. But then I learned about the prisoners, and that was when he really had no excuse."

"Thanks. No, I mean it. Though I don't see what you could do to me even if you did turn, anyway."

"You'd be surprised."

"Whatever. Anyway, we need to get these guys home first. Tails, you know what to do. We shouldn't take long, hopefully."

Alan nodded. "Fine. Still can't believe I have to babysit this guy though," he remarked as Sonic walked with Tails, who was cradling the Emeralds, towards the cave entrance, motioning for all to follow.

"All right everyone, time to go home!" Sonic called out.

As the prisoners followed the hedgehog out, the female who shouted earlier, near the back of the group, glanced at Alan, who did likewise. She didn't say anything, though she did give a nod, and Alan could have sworn he saw her smile just a bit. He nodded back just before she looked away.

Returning his attention to Robotnik, Alan pulled out his pistol on Robotnik again. "Let's sit down, shall we?" He said, referring to the small rock formations on the floor that were just the height, on opposite sides of the cave.

"Isn't your hand going to be sore if you keep doing that?" Robotnik asked in a none-too-concerned manner as he took his seat.

"Not really. I can keep this up all day. Or night, rather."

The fat scientist stared at Doherty with a sly grin, and chuckled slightly. "You really believe it will end just like this? Trust me. I will walk out of here a free man, ready to start everything all over."

"You don't have any slaves left to build anything for you anymore."

"Hah! Please, I haven't really needed them for two years. I just kept them around as a reminder of my ultimate plan."

"There's no way in hell the NM folks you pissed off will let you go. Not after finding out what you did to those victims."

"True…in theory. But I can tell you, that isn't going to happen."

"What makes you so sure?"

"There is a reason why I'm still active ten years into my…career, so to speak. It's a paradox, really. The same person who constantly ruins my life is also the one who always saves it."

"You mean Sonic? W-what the hell are you talking about?"

Robotnik's grin was unwavering, and it was starting to disturb Alan. And as if that weren't enough, "when Sonic comes back, I think it will be pretty obvious."

* * *

><p>As it turned out, it took more than three hours before the jet noises of the Tornado landing nearby could finally be heard. Alan was thankful. He had never liked guard duty, although he generally made sure no one ever caught him complaining about it.<p>

The engine sounds died down, and soon, Alan saw the silhouettes of Sonic and Tails walk in. It was dark, though at least there was a full moon out.

"I think I'm starving. What took so long?" Alan asked as he got up and holstered his weapon for the first time in hours. "Wait, why isn't there anyone with you to pick this guy up or something?"

The look on their faces was grim. "Bad news," Sonic said dejectedly. "No one wants to take him in."

"I'm sorry, what?" Alan instantly forgot about his hunger or exhaustion. Even with all the things he did not expect to happen so far, this could still only be number one. "How – how's that possible?"

Sonic shook his head. "With his hidden bases still out there, they don't want to take the chance of his flying bots launching attacks on their prisons, killing a lot of people and letting other prisoners as well as he himself escape in the process. They think it's less safe if they took him in. And considering it's happened before…"

"We've tried telling them we can stay and protect their prisons, but they refused it," Tails added, not sounding much happier.

"This is a sick goddamn joke!" Doherty shouted, causing echoes to reverberate through the cave. Both Sonic and Tails grimaced, though it wasn't just because of the loud noise. Nearby, Robotnik was chuckling, apparently in vindication.

"As long as I'm alive, those bots can always find me, no matter how long as it takes. Tsk tsk. See what I told you?"

"Shut up," Alan snapped as he went over to Robotnik before aggressively dragging him off his seat by the collar and forcing him down on his knees, no small feat considering his weight and size. He started placing his palms on the fat scientist's back and front, sweeping across the surfaces. "Then I guess we'll have to make sure they don't find you, huh?"

"If you're looking for a GPS microchip on me, you're wasting time. I don't have, or even need, one. The robots can track me down as long my heart still beats. Don't believe me? Well, you didn't either when I told you what would happen. And now look."

"It's true," Tails spoke up. "It takes a while, but eventually the robots can discover where he is through his vitals alone. No implants."

"My god," Alan swore as he threw up his arms. "Then what do you plan to do now?"

Sonic lowered his head, speaking very softly. "I, uh…" He couldn't believe he was going to say it. "We'll have to let him go."

Alan looked like a vein on his head was going to pop. "Sonic, this is not funny at all."

"I'm not trying to be funny. But I don't know what else we can do."

"I mean, can't you guys build your own prison or something?" Alan said as he raised his voice again.

Robotnik laughed. "Oh, come on. If they want to put me in something more advanced than a box, they'd need materials, or a cage. And even if they got one, where are they going to put it? Their home? Well, Sonic, can you really say both of you can stay awake all the time, ready to take down my robots when they come to free me and blow up your house? Or if you lock me up somewhere else, are you going to be there the whole day to guard me before the robots also come? Or are you going to ask your other friends for help? Like they could or would do anything?"

There was absolute silence. The only exception was the sound of Alan pacing around nervously and exasperatedly. "There has to be a way. There has to be someone still that-"

"There aren't," Sonic said softly. He shook his head again. "I checked. I'm sorry. This is the only thing we can do now."

Doherty stopped moving behind Robotnik. He wanted to shout again, feeling the pressure of damn near all of his options being taken away.

All except one.

He slowly touched his Smith. The last resort. He considered it. Robotnik's robots could find him based on his vitals. If he were _alive_. And he had no allies, no supporters, and no fans to speak of.

He didn't understand what Sonic was talking about. If the law refused to do what it was supposed to do, he decided he himself still would.

Meanwhile, Robotnik, remembering Alan's pistol, came to a similar realization. It began to worry him on the inside, but he knew he could not show it even slightly.

_Yes, I still would_, Alan thought. _I _have_ to_. "No," Doherty declared, shaking his head hard. "It isn't." No longer hesitating, the FBI agent pulled out his handgun and aimed it straight at the back of Robotnik's head. It was time to actually _use_ the thing on this guy. "I'm sorry, Sonic."

Watching what was going to happen, Sonic leapt and raced in with a horror on his face that hadn't been there for years. "No! Wait!"

Alan's finger came into contact with the trigger just as Sonic did the same to him. The .40 shot roared out of the barrel, spinning and ready to penetrate anyone or anything.

And the only thing it hit was the rough surface of the cave floor.

To the side, both Doherty and Sonic were lying on the floor, disoriented mainly by the loud gunshot and the echoes it caused. Tails was covering his ears in pain, though he did not take his eyes off the scene in front of him. Meanwhile, Robotnik did not react, which certainly took some effort.

Sonic got up, but Alan didn't. He remained down there, stunned in disbelief as to what just happened. Refusing to believe it, he raised his gun again at Robotnik, but a gloved hand grabbed his before he could aim properly.

"Sonic, what the hell _are_ you doing?" He asked very loudly. Then his face grew pale. "Oh, dear god. Please don't tell me, please don't tell-"

"No, no, no, NO!" Sonic shouted back. "It's not like that! It isn't." He hung his head in shame. "It's just that…it's…" His voice grew softer and softer. "I already knew what happened to him. I was there."


	8. Chapter 7: Mistake

**Chapter 7: Mistake**

Silence fell across the cave again. That was partly because of how everyone's ears were still ringing. Even so, Alan was pretty sure he heard what Sonic said correctly, giving him a second reason for being silent: total paralysis.

His first instinctual thought was that Sonic, even if he hadn't really betrayed him, had lied to him, had hidden things from him, and had him running a risky undercover op without giving him the full information he needed. Ideas like obstruction of justice and even being an accomplice floated around in his head.

Yet as Alan quickly sorted through his memory, he realized that there had been signs from the start. Bits and pieces. Sonic had said several things relevant to this, but one quote in particular stood out. _I believe in giving others a chance_.

But then Alan realized he was never actually aware of the reason Sonic was like that. Or rather, that there even was a reason for it. Once again, he felt the urge to _know_. It was his job, after all.

The ringing in his ears finally stopped. Slowly, Doherty got back onto his feet. When he was finally standing again, the look on his face, aimed at the hedgehog, was one of suspicion and confusion.

"Sonic, you better have a very damn good explanation for this." he said softly as he holstered his pistol, trying to sound emotionless. "You…you were one of them that caused him to…be like this?"

"No," Sonic replied firmly, shaking his head, but he stopped abruptly. "Well, maybe yeah, in a way. I really was there…but not how you think."

"Oh, really?" Robotnik spoke up in his trademark bossy tone. He didn't seem like someone who just avoided getting shot in the head. "Sonic the storyteller, eh? This should be interesting. Let's see whether I gain or lose reasons to kill you."

Alan noticed Tails wasn't saying anything. "Tails, let me guess, you knew about this also?"

Startled at being addressed at first, the fox slowly and reluctantly nodded. "I…I'm sorry. But Sonic told me I shouldn't tell anyone."

Alan didn't know what to say to that. Perhaps it wasn't so surprising. He turned to face Sonic again, arms crossed. "What happened?"

Sonic the Hedgehog sighed out loud as he started talking about the moments that changed everything in his life.

* * *

><p>The young hedgehog was only four years old. Just a few months ago, Sonic had discovered to his absolute delight that he could actually run pretty fast. Faster than his adopted parents, other kids at the school, in fact, just about everyone he knew. There were no side-effects as far as he could tell. In fact, reaching these speeds usually made him feel happier and freer than ever.<p>

But no one else knew about it. Not yet. For that, he wasn't ready. He didn't know what to do, as he was worried about what others would think. As far as he could tell, no other mobian ever moved this fast. Was this natural? Would he make more friends because he was different? Or less?

Sonic continued to wonder about this as he stood on the dirt path in the woods. It was best to enjoy his ability in secret for now. It was much easier that way. After looking around to make sure no one else was nearby, he began to move. He walked at first, but gradually broke into a run at the same speed as most mobians. He picked up even more from there, and soon he was running twice as fast as most athletes at their best. And he wanted to exceed even that. Something inside told him that it was indeed possible.

The dirt path was winding to the left ahead. _Woah! _Sonic slowed down to make sure he could turn properly without crashing or going off-course. He still only knew how to run this fast in straight lines, but he planned on practicing.

The hedgehog was grinning as he exited the corner and picked up the pace again. He felt happy to have such an ability. Maybe what others thought wasn't important at all.

His thoughts about this lasted until his ears picked up something nearby. A commotion of some sort. Slowing himself down to a complete stop – which was also something he had to work on – Sonic checked his surroundings. The sounds were coming from the village just over there, behind the trees.

As he listened more closely, he realized they sounded like people laughing. Not to mention, this laughter didn't sound like the kind he was used to hearing. People normally laughed when they saw or heard something funny. This one wasn't like that.

Sonic slowly walked through the small bunch of trees to check out what was going on. He was not prepared for what he saw.

A large group of mobians, mostly teenagers and adults, had gathered in front of a steel cage, their backs facing the hedgehog. Here, Sonic could also now hear that they were not just laughing, but also making rude remarks while poking long objects into the cage at its sole prisoner.

The person in the cage was of a species Sonic had never seen before. He wore clearly worn-out clothes, possibly a white jacket and trousers. He was much fatter, probably taller as well, than most of the crowd, though the latter was harder to make out as he was seated in a fetal position, clearly suffering. His arms were raised, barely covering his crying face while trying and failing to defend himself from the public humiliation and poking.

"What an ugly freak," a middle-aged male remarked, clear condescension in his tone.

"He, no, it looks abominable!" another woman cried out.

More and more voices loudly joined in as if engaging in a competition to see who could make the worst slurs. The crowd drew even closer to the cage, blocking Sonic's view of the man inside.

The four-year old Sonic didn't have to be a philosopher to feel that this simply wasn't right. The crowd seemed to be bullying this guy, wherever he came from, only because of his appearance. He remembered that his adopted parents had taught him about never judging others because of that.

He also remembered that he could run pretty fast.

The urge to bring about justice, even if he didn't know the word, caused Sonic to tap the ground, ready to move and spook the crowd away. They would have been the first mobians to witness Sonic's speed if it weren't for something else he saw that countered his urge.

Two of the people among the crowd nearest to the cage, visible to Sonic as they were standing to the side, were none other than Sonic's own adopted parents, the two hedgehogs poking and jeering at the victim inside like the rest. Their expressions were not the kind and loving ones they normally had towards Sonic.

Sonic found himself frozen. His adopted parents loved him very much. They told him that this was wrong. But now this…he struggled to understand. Why were they doing what they told him never to do?

The confusion quickly led to fear. If they were willing to engage in this bullying because this person wasn't a mobian…what would they do to their own adopted child if they found out how fast he could run? Sonic knew about orphans. Young kids forced to live by themselves with no grownups to take care of them. He had been one himself. He didn't want it to happen again.

His desire to remain someone who had people that cared for him - despite the troubling disconnect between their words and actions – ultimately won out over his desire to help care for others. At least for the moment. It pained him to do this, but he couldn't help this man now. He had to go home.

Slowly, Sonic stepped away from the ugly scene, back onto the dirt path, before turning around and darting back towards where he came from. For the first time, he did not feel happiness as he ran. He had to slow down a bit, as the flowing tears were starting to obscure his vision.

* * *

><p>It was the middle of the night eight hours later. The young hedgehog had come back to the same spot on the dirt path, having quietly sneaked out of the house just now.<p>

His adopted parents had not talked to him about anything throughout the day other than the usual stuff, like "How's my big boy doing?" or "Are you hungry?". They showed no indication of having done anything out of the ordinary that day…unless what they did already counted as such. Sonic didn't want to know.

Sonic stepped through the same trees to the same place where he had observed everything. Unfortunately, it was immediately clear to the youngster, despite the lack of light here, that he was too late.

There was no one around the cage, but neither was there anyone in it either. The man inside had disappeared, and the open cell door was swinging lightly in the wind. Did he escape? Did someone else help him? Sonic couldn't tell.

Regardless, Sonic felt a sense of despair. He wanted to show the man that there was at least one person on this planet who would treat him differently. To help. But there was nothing he could do here now.

It was getting cold. Sonic turned around to run back home, unhappy that he had to do so without doing the small deed that he had sought. He could only hope the best for the man, wherever he was now. He vowed not to speak a word of this, whether of his speed or the man, to anyone, at least until he was older…or unless the man somehow reappeared.

* * *

><p>The five-year old hedgehog was on a dusty path in an open grass field, heading home from school. The distance wasn't very far, so Sonic was allowed to do it alone, which meant he got to practice running. As a result, it seemed to become shorter and shorter each day.<p>

He didn't want either of his adopted parents accompanying him here anyway, and it was not just so he could run in peace. His hidden feelings about them had remained conflicted for a year or so now. He didn't know who he could tell about it.

Sonic's thoughts were interrupted as he noticed certain distinct shapes in the bright afternoon sky. He stopped to look, and found it very interesting. Airplanes hardly flew over this place, especially advanced ones like these. As they flew closer, Sonic noticed they didn't seem like the kind to carry people. He was right. These planes were carrying something else entirely.

The planes screeched over Sonic, causing him to cover his ears. They suddenly banked hard to the right, flying roughly towards where Sonic was going as well, to the small town where he lived. Then, in the distance, the planes seemed to drop certain objects over the settlement. Many of them.

Sonic let out a small cry of shock as he watched big fireballs appear and consume what seemed like the entire place. The explosions were loud enough to be heard even from here. Above it, the jets turned and sped away, having performed their hit-and-run.

Feeling very concerned about his parents and the people there now, Sonic ran full speed towards the attacked town, not caring if anyone was left alive to look. It took only twenty seconds. As he came close to it, he saw not just crumbled, burning buildings, but even a few burning people as well. Some were already lying dead on the ground. Others who had miraculously survived unhurt were frantically trying to carry less fortunate ones, many heavily wounded, to relative safety.

Sonic was too worried about his parents to be horrified by the sight, and continued towards his home, completely ignoring the heat from the fires around him. It wasn't located near the concentration of buildings in the center of the town, so there was the chance they were spared.

But it was not to be. Up ahead, Sonic saw that the small house, like many others in the area, was no more, reduced to a dark hole in the ground. Next to it on the grass was a struggling adult hedgehog bleeding from multiple wounds. Sonic got closer, and realized he could barely make out a familiar color pattern on the mobian's dress. It was mom!

"Mommy!" Sonic cried out as he knelt down and cradled the dying woman. Shrapnel from the bomb that destroyed their house had penetrated her abdomen and hurt her elsewhere. She suddenly started coughing out blood before turning to face Sonic. Her eyes were locked with his, and they had a look that suggested sadness and regret.

"Sonic," she spoke weakly before taking in a sharp breath. "Sonic…I've always known about…how fast you could…" She turned away to cough up more blood before looking at him again. "…run. We both…did."

"Mommy," Sonic called again, tears streaming down his face. He actually felt a bit of comfort to know that his adopted parents knew. He only wished this revelation didn't have to come out like this. "I'm sorry I hid it from you, I really am!"

"Don't be. After…what we did…" Another cough. "…it was only natural for you to…to hide it from us."

"Mommy, please," Sonic continued softly, "I don't care about that, I care about you, I don't want you to die!"

"I love you…too." She inhaled again and stared harder at her adopted son than ever. "Sonic…you have a great gift. You must…use it wisely."

"Mommy, I…I promise. I will."

She took in one more breath and paused to savor it, for she was sure she would never have another. "Always remember…don't…don't repeat…my mistake."

And with that, Sonic's adopted mother fell limp, and her eyes closed forever.

"Mom…" Sonic tried shaking her, but she did not wake up. The young hedgehog did not exactly understand the concept of death, and yet was now forced to do so in such an abrupt manner. Because of what she did. Because of what he himself did.

Wishing that his parents, adopted or not, imperfect or not, had always accompanied him on the way to and from school, Sonic the Hedgehog let the tears loose, not leaving his mom's side for over an hour as he sobbed. He would have stayed there even longer if it weren't for the interruption by a certain familiar figure.

Sonic stopped sniffling and turned around as he heard the survivors screaming in fear and horror, some of whom were pointing upwards. Four jets were hovering side-by-side in a straight line, accompanied by a floating mechanical platform of some sort in the middle, hemispherical in shape with a seat in it. And the person sitting there controlling it was none other than…_him_.

The fat man Sonic had seen a year ago was laughing loudly, in the exact same way the mobians that tormented him did. He was now bald, sported a pair of circular sunglasses, dressed in a fancy red suit. Completely unlike the last time, he looked very much like he was in charge. "Hello, people," he announced into a loudspeaker after bringing himself under control, though he still had a large grin. Then he asked with a softer but darker voice, "Remember me?"

Sonic froze up, his grief already tossed aside as the man continued to speak. On the ground, the survivors reacted similarly, becoming too afraid to move.

"This is what you get for what you did to me. Now, if you don't want to end up like the rest of the town here, I will give you a choice. Just like I was your slave, you can all be my slaves. The more you help me take over this planet, the better the treatment you receive."

"Go to hell, murderer!" Someone shouted. After a brief pause, everyone started defiantly shouting similar, as well as increasingly ruder, epithets.

"Fine!" the man said loudly in response, shutting the crowd up as their resolve quickly melted away and their horror resurfaced. "In that case, know this as you have chosen your only other punishment: my name is Doctor Ivo Robotnik."

Sonic was young, but that didn't mean he didn't understand what was about to happen. No one noticed when he started moving. An idea popped up in his head as he remembered that he didn't just have his speed, but also sharp quills. And there was a small hill next to where his house used to be…

"Say hello to your friends and family!" The people below started screaming, and there were explosions. But they weren't occurring on the ground.

Instead, Robotnik noticed the explosions were coming from his right. He looked and watched in shock as his hovering jets disintegrated like they were made of cardboard. The gasping townsfolk were just as taken aback by this twist.

"Down here, down here!" a young male voice cried out. Sonic's trajectory after launching himself off the hill was such that he could knock out the two jets to the man's right, but after that gravity kicked in and he dropped under Robotnik's craft. The hedgehog kept moving in the same direction the moment he landed, sprinting harder than ever. "Come after me, come on!"

Robotnik saw the blue little runner for the first time. "What the-why you little-" His shock at seeing a mobian run so fast and anger at how there was any resistance to him at all caused him to shift his attention from the townsfolk and onto Sonic. "You two, go after him!"

Which was exactly what Sonic wanted. He took a quick glance behind to see the two remaining jets and Robotnik's floating platform turn towards him, ready to follow. Glad that the plan was working so far, Sonic turned left and ran off towards the hills opposite the town, heading for a small valley in between two of them.

As Sonic got closer, he heard several sounds behind him, new ones that weren't just the humming from the jet engines. He stole a glance towards the back and realized that they were missiles. They were catching up pretty fast.

Trying not to panic, Sonic quickly scanned ahead for something that could help. Directly in front, at the end of the valley, was a steep and almost vertical rock formation that stood out among the grass.

Glancing behind one more time to make sure of the position of the aircrafts and the missiles, Sonic acted. He leapt up onto the rock wall, concentrating hard on his own movement to make sure he would only go upwards, not down. Just before the missiles hit the wall just below him, Sonic bounced off and curled into a fetal position as he spun himself through the air. The explosions were just far away enough to not be damaging, but close enough that the pressure wave actually propelled Sonic faster.

Sonic's quills took care of the rest as he tore through the jets, one behind the other. Realizing what was behind that one, Sonic got out of his fetal position to land properly on Robotnik's platform. More precisely, straight onto his face.

"Gah!" the fat man cried out, both in pain and shock. Sonic tumbled to the side of the craft as Robotnik clutched his nose. Incredibly, his sunglasses were still in their proper position. "Get off, get off!"

Sonic knew very well he could get revenge on Robotnik right here, right now. The man had killed his parents and a lot of other people, and would kill more if others didn't do what he wanted. He was, as Sonic could not find another word for it, evil.

Yet Sonic also knew very well the reason Robotnik had turned into this vengeful beast. Why he turned evil. Sonic recalled his mother's last words. Did killing him now count as 'repeating' her mistake?

Sonic quickly realized that if he truly wanted to kill Robotnik, he would have remained in his fetal position earlier and just shredded through Robotnik and his platform rather than land on it. But he had done the latter instead, and he wasn't sure if it happened consciously or not. Regardless, he had to carry on from there. Sonic made his decision.

"I don't wanna kill you," Sonic said as he held on tight to the platform's rim, sounding timid yet concerned. "I know my mommy and daddy were bad to you, but I don't want you to be bad too because of that. I wanna help you to be good, please!"

Robotnik simply stared at the small hedgehog, looking more confused than angry now. There was a pause as the fat man seemed to consider Sonic's words. Then his expression changed to dark indifference. "I don't care."

With no real space to move around, Sonic was unable to do much as Robotnik suddenly brought his hand forward and forcefully shoved him off the platform. Fortunately, the hedgehog, despite his surprise, was able to land on the grassy slope more gracefully than Robotnik intended, and it wasn't very far down anyway.

"Your people treated me as a freak," Robotnik spoke indignantly through the loudspeaker as Sonic got up. "So I'll show them how it feels. _All_ of them. You're cute, kid, but there's nothing you can do to help me. You may have thwarted me today, but you won't be so lucky next time. I, Doctor Ivo Robotnik, will not rest until Mobius is mine!"

Before Sonic could respond, the platform covered itself with a glass dome, also hemispherical in shape and hidden within the vehicle's layers until now. Then it hovered higher and higher into the sky before zooming off over the hills.

Sonic slowly walked back to the town, expression downcast, no longer feeling the mood or urgency to run. He was greeted by the cheering townsfolk. "Hey, that was awesome!"

"You scared him off!"

"That'll show him!"

Sonic simply stood there humbly as compliment after compliment was piled on him. He knew Robotnik would come back soon, and he would be ready for him. Not just to stop his schemes, but to try and bring him back to normal. To make for what his fellow mobians did, and what he himself didn't.

No matter how many times it took. No matter how long.

* * *

><p>"Okay, let me try to understand this," Doherty first spoke after Sonic had finished. "You regard fighting him repeatedly for many years as…therapy?"<p>

"I guess, sort of." Sonic shrugged, and looked downwards again. "But yeah, now you see why I didn't let you know, much like I don't let the world know. Why I didn't send Robotnik to New Mobius, because I know they're itching to kill him as soon as possible." The hedgehog walked over to Tails and put a protective arm over the fox's shoulder. "And why I got Tails here by my side. I saw what was happening to him, and, well, I knew I just couldn't let that happen again. No way."

Tails smiled sadly at his friend, remembering that day pretty well, which he still regarded as the happiest in his life. When Sonic revealed why he saved him a year or so after being together with him, Tails had wondered if he really would have used his skills to take revenge on the world rather than save it if they had never met. The idea had shuddered him then, which only strengthened his bond with Sonic even more.

"And also why you saved me in the beginning," Alan observed. It all made sense.

Sonic nodded. "Yep, that too."

"Oh, what a sad, heartwarming story!" Robotnik remarked mockingly. "I'd be all crying and repenting right now – if I were still capable of that." He chuckled and grinned in his usual unsettling fashion again. "I'm sorry, Sonic, but it's really too late for that. I'm not changing my mind."

"Neither am I, Eggman," Sonic responded simply as if he expected such an answer. "I'm not giving up." He walked towards the cave entrance. "Anyway, it's really late. Time for us to go home – to our own ones, I mean."

No one wanted to make extra trips despite the Tornado's limited passenger capacity. The proposed arrangements were therefore somewhat awkward – Sonic would pilot the Tornado himself to fly Robotnik off to another one of his bases, with Robotnik showing the way, and Tails would personally airlift Alan, all two-hundred and ten pounds of him, plus his gear, back home. Both had left Doherty totally incredulous, but he wasn't in the mood to argue.

* * *

><p>Fifteen minutes later, Tails placed Alan in front of the familiar home after carrying him by his upper arms, and then landed himself. He had of course been unable to fly at his usual speed while carrying such weight, but it was still faster than going on foot.<p>

"You sure you don't feel strained?" Alan asked, curious and concerned.

"Nah, I'm fine," Tails answered as he shook his head, "it's how I usually lift heavier stuff. Though if you asked me to carry Robotnik, that'd be a different story." Then he yawned. "Well, a bit tired, but it's not because of carrying you. It's just…everything that's happened today."

"Didn't know Sonic knew how to fly the plane."

"He does. Actually, it was his before he met me. Some nice people gave it to him to go after Robotnik more easily," Tails continued as he unlocked his front door and opened it. "He just left everything related to it to me since then. Good thing too, since his piloting skills are way better than his maintenance ones. Even then though, he asked me to add an autopilot system just in case, since the plane's very different from before I joined him."

They both entered the house before Doherty spoke again. "Still can't believe Sonic's actually taking Robotnik to another one of those places." He shook his head.

Tails shrugged. "That's Sonic for you. That's always been his plan - we just keep stopping Robotnik's plans until he runs out of bases, robots, or, well, evil. See which happens first."

Doherty was silent for a moment, arms crossed. "I don't know…I'd say more, but I guess that wouldn't be very fair. You and Sonic never judged me for how I do things. I won't judge you either."

"Glad you understand," Tails replied. "Though you wouldn't be alone if more people knew. It's not exactly usual." He walked over to his room door. "Anyway, Knuckles said the Emeralds should all be ready by tomorrow morning, maybe noon."

"Wait, if all seven Emeralds are with Knuckles, what's powering the Tornado?"

"Oh, I can extract energy from the Emeralds and keep some in the plane as reserve use. It's finite, but it should still be able to outlast conventional fuelled planes by several times, at least in theory. I only managed to do it quite recently, so I haven't really tested it enough yet. So far I've just kept the Emerald plugged into the plane to be on the safe side."

"So this extracted energy is like fuel, or a battery, or what?"

"More like a battery, so that's it's easily portable. Still a lot needed to be done about it, but I hope it can be mass-produced one day."

"Damn. Imagine if Earth scientists actually managed to figure out how to do that. Just when I thought I already knew everything you could do. Seriously, that's amazing."

Tails blushed a little as he placed a hand behind his head, smiling awkwardly. "Thanks. It's not all me though. I needed a lot of help from Knuckles. I simply applied what he told me scientifically."

Just then, a low rumbling came from below the ground. "That's gotta be Sonic," Tails said, opening his door before quickly proceeding to the hangar entrance. Alan followed.

In the underground hangar, Alan and Tails watched as the Tornado slowly taxied towards the end of the runway before stopping. Sonic was smart enough to keep the plane to the side so that it could turn around more easily next time. The engines deactivated, and Sonic hopped out onto the ground after opening the canopy.

"Sonic, how'd it go?" Tails asked, running up to him.

"Okay, I guess. Still hard to believe he could actually fit in the back. Though, he gave me this grin before I took off, after he looked at me and your plane. Like he already has something planned."

"When doesn't he?" Tails pointed out.

"So, uh," Sonic said as he approached Alan. "Guess this is your last night here."

"Yeah. Though let's just have the goodbye ceremony tomorrow. I'm done for today."

"Heh, Angel Island isn't really what I'd call a party spot, but we'll manage." Sonic's expression became a little more serious. "But seriously though, thank you. I know we think kinda differently, but it's great to have had you with us."

Doherty nodded. "Just doing my job."

Tails yawned again. "Well, let's call it a day, guys," he said while heading for the stairs, followed by the other two.

"G'night, Alan, see you tomorrow. And g'night, Sonic," Tails wished before closing his room door.

"Night. See you in the morning, too," Sonic said before closing his.

"Night." After that, Doherty headed back to his room, which he knew wasn't going to be his after tonight, and crashed onto the bed after stripping off his equipment.

Before drifting off to sleep, Alan thought over about the whole day's events. Seeing Robotnik's firepower, learning how he could get back home, his undercover op with Robotnik, discovering his prisoners and his ultimate plan, and-

Alan suddenly stood up after coming to that thought, eyes wide open. Ultimate plan. He recalled seeing something in Robotnik's base that he didn't say anything about, as he didn't understand it. Until now. It was all coming together.

_Offsite backup complete_. Robotnik mentioning he understood how the Emeralds worked very well. Tails mentioning he could extract power from the Emeralds and use it for the Tornado. Sonic mentioning that Robotnik grinned after looking at him…and the Tornado. _Like he already has something planned_.

Then Alan remembered how Robotnik said he no longer actually needed the Emeralds. That he planned on lifting his airborne fortress into the air while the Emeralds simply laid there on the table, not plugged into anything, unlike with the Tornado. And Tails saying that extracted energy from the Emeralds could be put into portable batteries.

The words on that computer screen came back to him again. _Offsite backup complete_. What else could Robotnik have been backing up to a different base? Certainly not more robots, was it?

His first instinct after getting off the bed was to warn Sonic and Tails about this. But then he paused before his hand reached the doorknob.

Resuming his thoughts about the day after this revelation, Alan came to how Sonic actually cared for Robotnik and could only stop him, not kill him.

Then Alan recalled the prisoners again. Robotnik wanted to turn the entire planet's population to become the same way.

Suddenly Alan was thinking in terms of worst-case scenarios again. Although he did not doubt Sonic and Tails' tremendous capabilities, they had only located Robotnik's base today because he was there to help. What if, after today, they got into another situation where they needed some other party's help to find such bases again? And they couldn't find one?

And finally, Alan almost jumped when he remembered what Robotnik said he planned to attack. Angel Island.

The whole matter now directly concerned him. If Robotnik destroyed Angel Island, Alan was not going back to Earth.

But the question that ultimately remained in his mind: _Should I tell them?_

If he told them, they could easily go and devastate yet another one of Robotnik's bases, not one hour after dropping him off there and Alan would get to go back to Earth. But they would still let him live, and the cycle would just keep going on and on. Sonic's plan to try and 'treat' Robotnik was understandable and noble…but was it worth always putting the world in danger? Even if he and Tails did always protect the latter?

Prevention was better than cure. Robotnik had a tragic backstory…but so did the many criminals and terrorists he had hunted down in his career. And Robotnik already had ten years. He'd made it clear he was not going to change.

Alan picked up something among his equipment on the floor. It was his FBI identification and badge. He held it tight as he reminded himself hard about how he got it. Why he got it.

Because he was sick of wanted criminals getting away. It had happened at least twice in his life. One of them involved his own mother, although the situation was rather different compared to what happened with Sonic's own. And here, Sonic was allowing it to happen. For understandable reasons or not, he was doing it with someone as dangerous as Robotnik.

"Sonic, Tails, I'm sorry," he muttered to himself. He had a plan in mind, and he had to admit it was probably just as foolhardy as Sonic's own regarding Robotnik.

But it was still less so compared to going home without having at least tried to make a real difference. _That _would be the real mistake.


	9. Chapter 8: Blank Spot

**Chapter 8: Blank Spot**

_What's that smell?_ Sonic was stirred from his sleep as the odor reached his nose. It seemed rather strong and familiar. He groggily kept still at first as he tried to ignore it. Then he finally remembered what it could be.

Immediately forgetting about his sleepiness, he leapt up from bed, having a bad feeling about this. He hastily put on his shoes and almost had to resist not simply crashing through his door instead of opening it properly.

Sonic could see that there was a yellow glow of some sort outside, visible through the window slits. Before he could run up to the front door, however, he heard a distinct rumble that came from below the ground.

Wondering why Tails would need to use the Tornado so late at night, Sonic opened the door to his bedroom, only to find the fox just getting up, having been disturbed by the same sound. He rubbed his eyes. "Sonic?" he asked tiredly. "W-what's going on?"

"Tails, who's using the Tornado downstairs?"

Trying to comprehend what was happening, Tails shook his head roughly to wake himself up, but also to answer Sonic's question. "I don't know," he replied, sounding uneasy as he got up and walked towards the hangar door. When he tried to push it, however, he was surprised to find that it did not budge. "Huh? Sonic, something's blocking it! And what's that smell?"

Sonic was also growing more worried over the combination of events now. "You try opening this door, I'll check out what that is. It's coming from the outside."

"Okay!" Tails answered as he tried to kick the door down while Sonic hurriedly left the room. Meanwhile, the rumbling from below was already growing softer. The door moved inwards slightly, but there was clearly something heavy blocking it.

Sonic opened the front door and felt his jaw drop reflexively when he saw that his worst fears were confirmed. Several meters ahead, a fire was burning up a bunch of trees, and it threatened to spread to the rest of the forest due to the wind.

"What the-" Sonic almost swore at the situation. "Who could have done-"

A very possible answer hit him before he could finish asking. To confirm it, he went over to his right, and sure enough, Alan's room was empty, the door already opened wide.

"Sonic!" Tails came out of his room, looking nervous. "The Tornado's gone, and whoever took it blocked the door with a bunch of my supply crates! Is it-" He stopped dead when he saw the cause of the suffocating smell through the open front door, eyes wide in shock.

"It is, Tails. It's Alan. He did all of this," Sonic replied in a monotone. He had no idea what he himself was feeling right now. A wild combination of shock, confusion, and betrayal, perhaps. "I can't believe that he'd-"

"Sonic, snap out of it!" Tails exclaimed. "We have to put this out first before going after the Tornado. I'll get the extinguishers!"

"Uh, right!" Sonic watched as Tails ran off to the hangar to get the extinguishers, namesakes spinning behind him for extra speed. Although Sonic was faster, he didn't want to waste time looking for them, as he had never paid attention to their exact locations, while Tails did.

Twenty seconds later Tails came back out and tossed one of the fire extinguishers he had to Sonic. "Come on!"

Both rushed to the fire, which seemed to have already doubled in size since Sonic first saw it, and started spraying the foam. Tails took to the air in order to put out the taller flames. "I don't understand," he remarked, "why is Alan doing this?"

Sonic was silent for a moment while he pressed the handle tight and held the muzzle up. "Honestly," he replied silently, "there may be only one reason."

* * *

><p>For the first time in years, the Tornado had a pilot who wasn't Sonic or Tails. Even so, Alan decided that wasn't exactly true, since he was letting the autopilot, which worked far better than he expected, do pretty much everything, while he simply sat in, or rather squeezed into, the front seat. His hands weren't touching any controls for fear of screwing something up.<p>

He had had his doubts earlier. The first part was to sneak into the hangar to check out how to use the autopilot system that Tails mentioned, and found that it was just as user-friendly as the GPS in his own car, with a clear computer screen and instructions. By checking the flight record on it, he was able to find where Sonic had flown Robotnik to. Although impressed, Alan had to shake his head at the lax security, since the canopy was left open, and the plane was apparently activated via push-button start. He guessed it was possibly so that it could be used quickly in an emergency.

Next he had to find a suitable distraction for Sonic and Tails as they would inevitably wake up due to how loud the Tornado was. The cooking oil from the kitchen, coupled with his lighter, solved that problem. Then he had to try and sneak past a sleeping Tails again, whom he guessed had a much keener sense of hearing than humans, possibly most mobians too, this time while carrying all his equipment. He made sure to slowly walk through Tails' room barefoot, holding his combat boots and stun grenades in one hand, the latter so that their pins didn't jingle. Once in the hangar, he managed to find several metal crates of sufficient weight to barricade the door.

Finding it impossible to fit into the cockpit with all of his equipment, Alan had to take off most of them and put them in the back seat instead, and even that it still wasn't exactly comfortable. He was amazed he could still even put on the seatbelt.

Remembering to open the hangar doors using the switch and close the canopy, he had taken a deep breath before hitting the engine start button and the destination on the screen. He made sure not to select the exact same spot in which Sonic had landed, but rather a quarter of a klick or so away. The 3D map display also helped him to choose a flat spot large enough for the aircraft, which wasn't all that common in the area.

The next thing he knew, the Tornado twisted sharply to face the opening hangar doors before blasting off, both of which startled him greatly and pushed him hard into his seat. As it lifted off the ground, Doherty was only glad the autopilot system also allowed one to input speed and altitude, otherwise he would have either suffocated or turned into human mush. The available oxygen mask only fit, of course, mobian faces with muzzles, and though he had endured plenty of training in his life, none of it involved withstanding G-forces.

Currently the Tornado was flying through the night at only 200 knots and 500 meters, both ridiculously low numbers for such a plane and its owners, but Alan didn't dare set any higher ones than that. He was thankful that he had some familiarity with the metric system that Mobius curiously shared, otherwise he could have done exactly that.

One interesting setting that he noticed near the top of the instrument panel, all of which was subtly illuminated for night flight, was a 'reserve charge' meter that showed, in green font, 99.70%. Perhaps this was the extracted Emerald energy Tails was talking about?

Realizing it was eerily similar to the percentage numbers he saw on Robotnik's computer in his base, Alan reminded himself to focus on what came next – which was bound to be even crazier.

The map showed that the area was somewhat mountainous, almost like where Robotnik's base was located just now. He predicted that there were bound to be patrol bots on the outside as well, likely to be armed with missiles like the ones yesterday morning. He would need to find a way to sneak past them.

The Tornado began to slow down and descend, the vertical thrusters to the sides of the aircraft activating. The autopilot showed that he was nearing his designated landing point. Twenty seconds later, the plane's wheels touched down on one of the few flat areas in these hills. To the plane's immediate surroundings were slopes, the one in front heading down, and the one behind up.

Doherty shut off the loud engines before popping the canopy open to avoid being deafened. He grabbed and threw out his equipment from the back seat before jumping out himself. Hastily he put on his vest and holster while looking around to make sure there wasn't anyone or anything approaching.

Vision was somewhat better now since he was out of the plane and it was aided by the full moon. He wondered how Tails or Sonic flew in the dark. Maybe the Tornado had a HUD or helmet that included night vision somewhere, but it didn't matter for now.

Already dressed up, Doherty began to slide down the grassy slope, which was facing north towards the direction of the base entrance, avoiding the rocks on the way. He wished he had some night vision himself, but then again, he had been trained to not be too reliant on technology.

There were no signs of robots thus far. Alan reached the bottom of the slope and began sprinting. This time though, he made sure to stop behind each tree or rock and look around, just in case. Ahead of him was the looming face of a rocky mountain much like the one with the previous base. By scanning it carefully, he could make out what seemed to be a small cave near the top. Just like before, he'd just need to climb up there carefully. So far so good.

And unfortunately for him, the good chose to run out at exactly that moment. He was able to guess as much due to the ground suddenly trembling, which made him freeze where he was. Several rocks began tumbling down from the mountain. Then there was the loud sound of many more rocks being broken apart, coming from near the top. He realized that something was about to erupt from the mountains, and it wasn't volcanic lava.

It was something far worse.

* * *

><p>"This fire's pretty stubborn!" Sonic remarked impatiently. The flames were smaller now, yet they still showed no signs of dying. "If it's not put out soon, Alan's going to get himself killed!"<p>

"We're running low," Tails said, sounding concerned as he continued spraying from up top. He was struggling to come up with any other solution that could work.

Then one finally hit him, and he couldn't believe he didn't think of it earlier. "Sonic, I got it! Try and circle around the fire as fast as possible. I'll hit it from the top. That way we can probably deprive it of oxygen faster."

"That could work! On it," Sonic quickly replied as he dropped the empty canister on the ground and started running in a circle, enclosing the burning area. The hedgehog continued to increase his speed until he seemed to be simulating a particle in a particle accelerator, virtually forming a blue, blurry wall. Meanwhile Tails went up to the center of circle and unloaded all that he had left in the extinguisher.

"Alright, it's gone!" Tails called out in relief. Sonic broke out of his circular motion into a straight line before slowing down on the dirt path. He looked back to see the trees had finally stopped burning.

"Whew! 'kay, let's find the Tornado now!"

"Just one more thing," Tails said as he rushed to the front door, still in helicopter mode, and closed it, causing the keypad lock to automatically engage, as neither he nor Sonic were fond of carrying keys around. "Let's move out now, Sonic! I really hope Alan's okay!"

* * *

><p>"My God."<p>

Alan Doherty could remember Robotnik bragging about how awesome his airborne fortress was, but he hadn't really been able to visualize or imagine it. Right now though, that blank spot in his mind was most certainly already filled, and he didn't like it one bit.

Hundreds of feet above him, having just risen from behind, or rather underneath, the mountains, was a massive sleak floating ship, with a silver hull tainted by years of being underground, roughly as long and as tall as the aircraft carriers back on Earth, kept in the air by similarly massive thrusters faced downwards. There was no doubt as to what served as their energy source, and even less of it that Robotnik had meant everything he said.

The massive aircraft began moving as the rear thrusters loudly engaged, causing it to cruise forwards, or west. Considering its size, it appeared to be moving at a surprisingly high speed, not enough to chase after Sonic, Tails or the Tornado, but enough that there was no way Alan would be able to keep up on foot, even though he instinctively started running to try and do so anyway.

That wasn't going to work, but it did serve another incredibly important purpose. Just after he started moving, he heard the sound of several projectiles whiz past the air behind him where he stood just a second ago. He quickly glanced to his left and saw various buggy-shaped wheeled robots on the slope, all training their top-mounted machine guns on him.

Less than second later, adrenaline kicked in and he dropped down behind a rock onto his abdomen as more shots flew by. Considering the firing noise and the amount of debris that crumbled off the top of the rock as it was hit, these bullets were likely of rather large caliber. His armor was not going to be good enough against them. One hit and that was it.

But for now, Doherty only chose to curse about the sheer inconvenience of the timing as he racked the charging handle on his weapon. "You can dish it," he muttered angrily, "but let's see you take it!"

* * *

><p>"Sonic, look at that!" a flying Tails pointed exclaimed in shock as he saw the silhouette of something huge floating in the air and distance.<p>

"Oh, man. I knew there was a reason Eggy grinned at me like that," Sonic commented as he continued moving across the thick woods, sounding very annoyed. His forest training had served him well as he was able to maneuver between the trees with ease, though it was still Tails who could bypass all of them completely.

"This has to be the real reason why Alan got out," Tails said as he checked his wrist device, which always marked the location of the Tornado.

"Yeah, sure, but he still didn't tell us about it."

"True. We'll need the Tornado anyway to catch with that thing. Alan could be aboard already! We should be getting close to-wait, I hear something!"

They both broke out of the woods and came to a stop at the edge of a cliff that overlooked a grassy hill. Somewhere in front and to the left, resting on a flat surface, was the Tornado, but their attention was currently attracted to what was going on in the area in front of it, down the slope. It became clear what the sounds Tails heard were as they saw flashes of rapid machine gun fire from at least a dozen robots, all pointed in the same direction…and it wasn't towards the Tornado.

Before they could express any confusion, however, they saw multiple incredibly bright flashes go off. If they were any closer, they would have been blinded and left disoriented as their senses got overloaded. That seemed to happen to some of the robots as they stopped firing, at least for one second. Then the duo saw a lone flash firing back at the machines.

"I kinda knew he'd get himself into something like this," Sonic remarked, "ready Tails?"

"When you are!"

"In that case," Sonic said as he ran back into the trees before looping out to gain speed, "zoom and boom, baby!"

* * *

><p>A minute and a half had passed since the robots appeared and started firing, but Alan didn't know that. What he did know was that he had successfully hit and disabled at least two robots, with shots straight to their 'faces'. It was a very slow process, however, due to the insane volume of fire concentrated on him, making it difficult for him to pop out of cover and shoot back, and when he did, he could only manage two or three shots before he had to back down again.<p>

Each robot had to be hit at least with at least ten rounds in the exact same spot in front before they stopped firing, and it was hard to be that precise in this kind of situation. He noticed some of the robots were getting closer, which was both good and bad. Good, as it meant shooting them in the face more easily. Bad, as it meant they would get around his cover soon. Machine gun fire littered both sides of him, which meant it would not be easy to go over to even the nearby other rocks.

There was only one other solution left as he brushed against the three stun grenades on his waist. Alan was skeptical they could actually be effective against robots, but it didn't hurt to try. He held them in one hand, pulled all their pins and then lobbed them out simultaneously.

He started running the instant he heard them go off, darting towards another rock that was further away from the robots. The machine gun fire resumed just as he slid behind it. He had bought himself time, but how much? He peaked out a bit to fire off a whopping four shots, his best record so far. One more, the one nearest to him, went down. Time to reload.

Alan was so focused on trying to remember the exact positions of each robot that he did not hear the ones furthest away blow up, although the noise of the incessant gunfire didn't help either. It was only after he tried to aim again did he notice at least four bots were already in flames. Two blurs were zipping around to knock out more, one blue, the other orange. They're here!

The other robots were already switching their attention onto Sonic and Tails, and Alan was about to assist when suddenly machine gun fire rained back on him, causing him to hide again. It seemed that not all of them were dumb enough to forget about their first target. The torrents of bullets were hitting both sides of the rock, pinning him behind there like just now, and worse, he could hear the robots firing them get closer and closer, due to their wheels rolling against the ground and their humming engines.

There were more nearby explosions, but both time and cover were running out for Alan. The bullets just did not stop. More of the rock continued to be chipped away. The engines were getting louder and louder. For the first time since he left the Army, Doherty felt genuine fear and helplessness. If they didn't get here right now…!

Just before the two buggy bots came around to slice Alan up, they splintered loudly into pieces as they were violently hit from behind, and two blurs emerged from their fronts, passing by the rock and him at breathtaking velocity. Sonic and Tails slowed down before looping around.

Eventually, they came to a stop in front of Doherty, who stood up. He noticed that neither of them seemed very amused at him. Sonic folded his arms.

"Uh…I can thank you first, right? I know I have to…explain myself."

"You betcha have to!" Sonic spoke up, sounding more impatient and frustrated than angry. "Why…why'd you do all this for?"

"You saw it just now, right? Robotnik has a second goddamn spaceship with power he backed up from the goddamn first one earlier!"

"We saw it, but that's not the point," Tails chimed in, looking upwards at Alan with an expression of disappointment. "You didn't tell us anything and tried to prevent us from coming along!"

Alan nodded weakly and sighed. "Yeah. I did all that." Though of course, considering what just happened, he was actually glad they were here now.

"You said you understood," the fox continued. The hurt in his voice was rather obvious.

"Then why's it like this now?" Sonic asked, accidentally sounding more demanding than he intended.

That was when Alan lost it. "Sure, I thought I did. But goddammit Sonic, think of all those people he imprisoned. He wants to do that to the whole world! What if you can't find anyone anymore to infiltrate his bases like yesterday? And if I hadn't come out here, you wouldn't have seen his second base turning into the goddamn Death Star! He's going to use it to destroy Angel Island, so he'll be trapping me here too! And if those aren't good enough reasons, you think you're the only one motivated to right wrongs because of a dead mother?"

The argument came to a halt on that last sentence. No one said anything as a stunned Sonic contemplated Alan's words. Even without that last part about mothers, he wondered if he should have somehow seen this coming. He recalled their lunch conversation yesterday. Something about saving lives by taking others. Alan had already tried shooting Robotnik once. Was there really anything that suggested he wouldn't try that again?

"Look, we better argue later, guys," Tails suggested as he wound up his namesakes. "We need to get to the Tornado and take that fortress down now. Alan?"

Alan was confused at first, but he saw Tails mimic picking something up, and understood. "Yeah, yeah," he answered as he raised his arms to his side, and the fox slid his own underneath Alan's biceps to pick him up. Climbing up this slope would take too long for Alan, though obviously not for Sonic, who was already halfway to the top.

Back at the Tornado, everyone got into their positions, with Tails in the main cockpit, Alan behind him and Sonic outside next to the right vertical stabilizer. This time, however, Sonic was not lying down to relax, but rather holding onto the front of the stabilizer in an upright stance, ready for action. Tails tossed something tiny at Sonic, who grabbed it and put it in his ear. It was the same earpiece that he had given Alan earlier.

Alan was forced to squeeze into the rear seat with all his equipment on him, though there was at least more space than in front. The canopy closed, and Tails started the engines. "You know, Alan," the pilot spoke up, "I'm kinda glad you used my plane. Proves that my autopilot works, maybe too well. And that I've been sloppy with its security."

"Uh, okay." Alan noticed Tails didn't say that in a thankful manner, just a matter-of-fact one.

Tails took out a pair of target display goggles with a mouthpiece from under his seat, which he would need for aerial combat, and put them on. The plane started rising. "One more thing. I'm gonna go at full speed this time, and if you really can't handle it, there're bags under the chair."

Alan gulped as he realized he had not considered that at all. "Right, thanks."

"Besides," the fox added just before he rammed the throttle all the way forwards, "you kinda deserve it."

As the Tornado shot ahead, Doherty could only feel relieved that this was all he was going to get for annoying Mobius' top two heroes.

* * *

><p>The only sounds to be heard on Angel Island at this hour were that of fruits dropping from the trees and the light punches that were hurled at them. Knuckles had to be careful not to use his full strength to hit the trees lest he snapped them into two or more pieces.<p>

He had woken up in the middle of the night feeling hungry, and it had annoyed him. This didn't exactly happen often, since eating was pretty much the only other thing he did here other than guarding the Master and Chaos Emeralds. And occasionally receiving a sudden visit from Sonic and Tails.

Speaking of the Chaos Emeralds, Knuckles was glad that all seven were back together again, and so soon too. However, he couldn't help but wonder how long that would last. Perhaps after he helped Alan to return to his world?

He took a glance at the sky to check out the full moon, and that when he unexpectedly got his answer. It did not please him. _Oh, come on…_

In front of the moon was the silhouette of a rather large craft of some sort, and it was undoubtedly headed towards him, his island, and his Emeralds. For Robotnik, this was certainly a new record when it came to having short breaks. Even at this distance, he could see some sort of glow being produced by a turret underneath the massive vehicle, and it was growing in intensity. The weapon was aimed straight in his direction.

Realizing that there was only one thing he could do short of jumping off the island, an idea he refused to consider, Knuckles the Echidna darted straight towards the Emerald altar, to get to the emergency caller up there, next to the Emeralds. He suddenly found himself desperately hoping for Sonic and Tails to appear.

* * *

><p>Alan was handling the G-forces rather well, all things considered. That was not to say it was a comfortable experience as he grimaced all the way and kept the paper bag in his hand just in case.<p>

"I see it!" Tails said as he got a visual of Robotnik's flying fortress via night vision. That was when a loud beeping sound filled up the cockpit. It was coming from Tails' wrist device, which he held up. "Looks like so does Knuckles! Just a bit closer, closer…"

Then he saw what was underneath the fortress. "Uh oh…"

Alan was able to see it too. "Jesus, that's the vaporizer he was talking about!"

Outside, Sonic also exclaimed something, but only Tails could hear him.

"Firing air-to-air now!" Tails pressed a button on his hand controls. Underneath the Tornado, the weapon bays opened for just a fraction of a second to drop two missiles that activated the moment they were outside, heading straight for the vaporizer turret, whose glow was already worryingly bright.

* * *

><p>In the fortress' bridge, Robotnik noticed that the infernal duo had arrived on their plane after looking at the radar screen. In any other time, he'd be angered over how they just kept showing up at the worst moments. He was still feeling miffed from this discovery, but here, he wasn't worried.<p>

"Nice try," he remarked confidently as he saw the two missiles approaching his vaporizer. "Too bad it ain't enough!"

* * *

><p>Several meters before the missiles hit, they suddenly detonated in midair, too far away from the fortress to cause any damage.<p>

"No way!" Tails exclaimed. "Electronic countermeasures. I guess something as big as that can't just jam radars, it has to force incoming missiles to detonate too."

The fortress had other weapons too. Some panels on its port side slid open and fired out missiles of their own, all four of them headed towards the Tornado.

"Woah! Hold on!" Tails jerked the plane upwards as the warning system sounded. He held down another button on his controls while maneuvering, and the missiles all zoomed past harmlessly. "Luckily I've got ECM too!"

Doherty, who was combating even more motion sickness, weakly commented, "Yeah, sure."

"Sorry about that, but it was necessary." Tails brought the Tornado back on its original course. "Switching to chain gun!"

The port on the plane's front right opened up, and the 25mm cannon inside it started firing at 3000 rounds per minute. Even with that impressive rate of fire, however, it seemed that Robotnik, or to be more precise, Extro, had made sure the fortress could withstand such calibers and more. The bullets rapidly bounced off the turret like needles as its charging process inched towards completion.

Tails resisted the urge to swear as he gritted his teeth. The plane was getting pretty close to the fortress now. Then he thought of something. "In that case, there's only one idea left I can think of. Sonic?" he called into his mouthpiece.

"You thinking of what I'm thinking, bud?" the hedgehog outside asked.

"Yep. Don't worry, I will catch you. Wait till we're in position." Tails then changed the Tornado's course, from flying towards the fortress head-on to flying parallel to it. Just before the plane passed by the turret…"Now, Sonic!"

Sonic would have preferred it a lot more if he had some run-up, rather than relying solely on the strength of his legs to jump. Nevertheless that was exactly what he did. The hedgehog leapt off the Tornado as hard as he could and curled himself into a living, spinning buzz saw, straight at the turret…just as it fired.

* * *

><p>ATTENTION: IMPACT DETECTED, the words to the left of the large computer screen said. There was no report of the turret dislodging or being destroyed, which would normally make him giggle with glee. But he wasn't.<p>

The screen had a targeting reticule for the vaporizer, and it was zoomed in to show that it was supposed to be aiming somewhere on the grass in front of the Emerald altar, which was the 'true' center of Angel Island. However, Sonic's impact on the turret caused it to shift to the upper right and therefore hit something else instead - the Master Emerald.

And that was most certainly not what he, or anyone else for that matter, intended. "Dammit Sonic!" he yelled. "Now look at what you've done!"

* * *

><p>"Sonic!" Tails saw that the hedgehog had been unable to tear through the turret like he was so used to doing, and was now falling towards the sea water hundreds of feet below. Quickly, he swerved the plane hard downwards in a wide spiral to catch him. Behind him, Alan was enduring the ride as much as he could, his hands gripping the sides of his seat and eyes closed, and was almost more concerned for himself than for Sonic. Almost.<p>

There was a loud thud, and Alan looked back to see Sonic holding onto a vertical stabilizer with both hands, pulling desperately to not fall off again. After struggling for a while, he brought himself forwards and planted his feet onto the Tornado's body. He shook his head with a very annoyed expression. "First time he's ever made anything hedgehog-proof, that's for sure!"

Tails wanted to ask if Sonic was okay, but as he turned back towards Angel Island, he saw something that got the attention of all three.

Alan felt a grave discomfort as he recognized the phenomenon, only this was on a much larger scale. "Is what I think is happening, happening?" Alan asked worriedly.

"I don't know. But if it is…I heard Knuckles say the affected radius will be huge!"

* * *

><p>Knuckles was panicking. He knew Robotnik had always wanted power, but what he had just done was utter insanity.<p>

The massive energy beam was completely absorbed by the Master Emerald while Knuckles had dived out of the way down the stairs. While this spared Angel Island and his life, it caused the large gemstone to overload, and now it was its turn to glow very brightly. It was making a loud, energetic noise, and the glow was only intensifying.

This was simply not supposed to happen. They had only planned on sending Alan back by applying controlled damage onto it. Perhaps with a missile or something, but most certainly not with this kind of doomsday weapon.

"No!" the echidna shouted. He remembered very well that his kind, and any other on Mobius, for that matter, was forbidden from ever using the Master Emerald for this purpose. It was a law that had been driven into his head before he lost contact with all other echidnas. Given how out of control the whole thing looked now, he was sure that everyone here was going to be affected, no matter how fast they tried to turn their aircrafts away like they were doing now.

Just before the huge flash burst out from the Emerald and engulfed the entire area, Knuckles had only one thought: _We've failed._I've _failed_.


	10. Chapter 9: All over the Place

**Chapter 9: All over the Place**

"Captain! Captain!" the nervous young man called out as he stormed into the office at Naval Base San Diego. The tallest one in the building, in fact.

The elderly man behind the desk placed his phone call on hold and looked up grumpily. "What is it, Harris?" he asked, trying to hide his annoyance. He really preferred it if people actually knocked before entering.

"Captain, you haven't seen the news? Something airborne and massive just showed up off the coast of LA. Depending on what happens, we may need to act. A helicopter news crew just approached it. The TV downstairs is on. You have to see this, sir," he spoke rapidly.

Captain Mitchell, who simply frowned at this news, got up from his seat and followed Harris out the door, who continued to speak. "Believe it or not, sir, this isn't even the weirdest thing to show up on the news so far."

"Oh? What are you talking about?"

"There've been reports of, uh, other things showing up in other parts of the world. You'll understand once you see the reports. Sir…" Harris said as he lowered his voice, which showed no signs of joking. "Some weird shit is going down all over the place. Even weirder than what happened a few days ago with the ARA."

* * *

><p>Sonic the Hedgehog had never been teleported before. And considering how fast he ran, he had deemed it unnecessary to ever really find out if it was even possible.<p>

And now that it had actually happened to him, he would rather have never found out, at least not like this. His whole body felt weird, weak and hurting, the latter mainly due to the inertia that kept him moving even after the blast from the Master Emerald transferred him from one space to another. He had bounced on the hard, smooth ground several times before coming to a stop. _Ow_.

Sonic slowly opened his eyes to find himself face down on a black surface. He placed his palms on them to lift himself up slightly. The first thing he noticed was how smooth the ground was. Unnaturally so.

Then he finally paid attention to the sounds. There were a number of them, though his hearing wasn't fully back yet. They sounded like…people. And car engines. They all sounded like they were somewhat far away. Except for one that seemed to coming closer and closer. Very quickly, too.

Joining in the cacophony was a loud horn, and Sonic looked up to see a large vehicle coming straight towards him.

Gasping, his reflexes took over and commanded him to roll over to his left regardless of how weak he felt. He did it just in time as the bus shot past with nary an inch between them.

Right after that, however, he saw a second, smaller car headed coming, and Sonic had to flip himself over in the same direction as just now to avoid being hit.

Sonic did end up hitting something else, however, and that something else screamed, startling him to the point where he almost screamed himself.

He finally decided it was time to find out what was going on, and that it wasn't ideal to do so while lying down, rolling around and bumping into things. Sonic kicked his legs up and brought them down in a rapid motion, bringing himself into a standing position. But all of his movements came to a halt when he saw exactly where he was.

He was in the middle of a city square of some sort. Streets and tall buildings surrounded the place, and there was a dazzling amount of colorful lights and advertisements, which were further punctuated against the night sky.

But Sonic had seen such things before, however rarely he went into cities. It was not the appearance and scenery that froze him, but rather its population.

Surrounding Sonic in all directions was a massive group of human beings, all of whom were staring at him. Including the woman he had just bumped into.

Sonic would have marveled at how he was able to easily recognize a human lady, but even he wasn't that silly. Instead he told himself to keep calm, saying nothing as he closely observed the humans who were observing him in return. Some of them did not keep still and were already taking pictures of him with their cameras or cell phones. Murmurs could be heard amongst the crowd.

"What is that thing?"

"Is it a toy?"

"…just popped out of thin air!"

"…some sort of animal?"

Sonic knew that it was best he did not stay here for long. But there were just too many people standing around. He needed to wait for his opportunity to come before any of them tried something.

Then one of them did exactly that. Sonic felt something behind him touching his quills, which reflexively caused him to spin around in just the blink of an eye. The person who did it jumped back in fear, as did many others, and Sonic realized he must be quite young. He was very glad his quills weren't in sharp mode like when he was performing a spindash, otherwise he could have cut the boy's fingers off. "Woah, sorry about tha-" he ended up blurting out, and he immediately covered his mouth when he realized what he did.

"Holy crap, it talks!"

"…moved damn fast too!"

The excitement was getting louder until a new, powerful voice interrupted. "Police! Everyone step aside and keep back! I mean everyone!"

Everyone stopped speaking after that. From the crowd, four tall men dressed in dark blue uniforms emerged, walking towards the hedgehog with practiced bravado. They formed a rough semicircle around him before one of them asked curiously, "Dave, whadaya think this is?"

"Dunno. Some advanced toy, looks like."

"Maybe a lab experiment that escaped. Seriously."

Sonic took umbrage to that and really wished he could voice it out, but he held himself back. All he did was to glare at them in annoyance to see if they would notice it.

They didn't. "Whatever it is, we better take it with us and give it to lost and found or something," another suggested as got up closer to Sonic, ready to pick him up. "You'd think people would take better care of something li-"

Sonic recoiled and took several quick steps back before the man's hands reached him, and everyone was startled again. He did not like being picked up by anyone, or anything, for that matter. It gave him bad memories of just how immobile he was when that happened.

"What the hell?" the police officer said. "How'd it move so fast?"

"Maybe someone's remote controlling it and playing with us," Dave said, sounding like he just had a revelation. "Let's get it and see who it belongs to!"

And that was when Sonic knew he had to get out of there. As soon as the officers started running towards him, he leapt off the pavement over their heads in a somersault. Once he landed, he darted straight for the opening in the crows that the officers had entered through earlier. Around him, everyone was crying out in either amazement, shock, fear, or all at the same time.

_Now I know what Alan felt like when he first came to Mobius_, Sonic thought as he zoomed along the street, passing by and swerving in between the many cars on it, ignoring their horning. Then a new thought entered his mind, a much more important one. _Where's Alan? Where's Tails? Where's everyone else?_

* * *

><p>People normally came here to admire the local landmark, but tonight, everyone's attention was on something else entirely.<p>

Sonic had started to wonder where Tails or anyone else went only after he began to escape. On the other hand, that was the first question Tails could think of when he came to his senses and realized that no one else was with him. _Where's Sonic? _He wondered with alarm, feeling rather nervous.

The source of his nervousness was the huge crowd that surrounded him, consisting completely of humans. And Sonic was nowhere nearby to help him if, or when, something went wrong. Three of his worst fears at the same time. Tails had only just gotten used to having one human friend. That didn't mean he was ready to face others yet. Especially so many at once.

Equally distressing was the fact that he wasn't in the Tornado, and his goggles were missing as well, though he at least still had his gloves and shoes on. He spun around. There was no sign of them around here, just a lot of humans.

Despite his panic, Tails was still able to take note of where he was. He was front of a tall stone gate of some sort with six rectangular pillars, and with the dark sky, it appeared to be golden in color. In front of it, as far as he could tell, was a large open paved area. His keen ears let him know there were cars driving around the place, but he could not see them due to how tall and numerous the humans around him were.

They got closer, and he got more scared. There was no space for him to back up to. Any direction he moved in, he would still be getting nearer to the crowd. Except one. He fell backwards onto the ground, his tails cushioning the fall. This didn't help, however, as it only made them look even taller when he looked up. Oh well. It was worth a try.

„_Was ist denn das?_" one of them asked.

„_Weiss nicht. Ein Hund? Ein Fuchs?_"

„_Mit zwei Schwänzen?_" This one sounded incredulous.

„_Es sieht aber ängstlich aus, oder?_"

„_Na ja. Und eigentlich auch ziemlich süss._"

_Great_. Just to top it off, he was in a place where people did not speak English. Now he had to worry about how he would-

"Wah!" Tails felt his namesakes being pulled, and he automatically reacted by yelping in fear and jumping back onto his feet before turning around. The child who had tried to grab onto his tails and many of the observers also reacted similarly, and an adult man quickly came to whisk him away. The fox held his own tails in front of him like they were a security blanket, and he glanced at them to make sure they were fine.

_Snap out of it!_ He mentally shouted at himself as he looked downwards. _What do I do? What would Sonic do?_ Unfortunately, the first answer that came to him was rather useless: _Find Sonic._ But what if he and the others weren't teleported? The thought terrified him to no end. Then he told himself he was being irrational due to his fear. _Find the others and the Tornado,_ he finally decided. _And before that, stop being so afraid!_

_But how?_ Another voice in him asked. Only one solution came to him. He certainly wasn't going to able to immediately start socializing around and ask questions, since even if he could drop his shyness and agoraphobia just like that, the humans would all still be freaked out. _I need to be alone,_ he concluded.

As if he was asking for further encouragement to do so, Tails felt someone pat him on the head. He had not realized how close he or she had gotten while he was deciding what to do, and he jerked his noggin away without even thinking about it.

Miles 'Tails' Prower couldn't take it anymore. "No, please don't hurt me!" he blurted out and brought his arms out in front of him as he deployed his only means of escape. He quickly wound up his dual tails and rose into the air after they reached the minimum RPM he needed to gain lift. Once he was a dozen feet into the air, he scanned the place for a place to hide. He found one almost right away, and he knew it would work at least for a while.

The now flying fox zoomed straight towards the large bunch of trees northwest of the Brandenburg Gate, ignoring all of the excited cries and camera flashlights that came from below him.

* * *

><p>"What do you think, Captain? Should we move out?" Harris asked.<p>

Captain Mitchell stared at the TV set. The video feed from the news channel crew was showing something that most definitely warranted the military's attention. The huge spaceship the size of an aircraft carrier – he knew the scales of such ships by heart – seemed dormant for now, but for how long? "Yes, we do. If this thing's going to cause trouble, we make sure it ends before it even begins. Get everyone ready within ten minutes."

"Aye aye, sir!" The petty officer dashed out of the room after that.

_What the hell is going on?_ Mitchell wondered as he picked up his cell phone to contact the Air Force and Marine Corps, hoping to find out how they were dealing with the _other _UFO that had showed up.

* * *

><p><em>Okay, so I'm fine<em>, Knuckles realized. _And so is Angel Island_. He was glad to see he was still on the familiar grass and soil of the floating island, and was gladder still when he turned around and saw that the Master Emerald and the seven Chaos Emeralds were also still there on top of the altar. Their colors were unfortunately no longer glowing, though that was to be expected given the events that had just occurred.

But he was pretty sure Angel Island itself was no longer in the same place. Or the same planet, for that matter. He could tell that much just by looking at the sky. It was afternoon, maybe evening, but it seemed…different somehow.

Knuckles knew it was something he had to make sure of to fulfill his duty as the Guardian. He broke into a run in the opposite direction of the altar's stairs and rushed through the trees. He was not as fast or Sonic or Tails, and never would be, but was still capable of outrunning most mobians or humans.

Less than a minute later he reached the very edge of the island. He stopped and looked downwards from it. The good news was that Angel Island was indeed still floating.

The bad news was that it was now floating over a city he did not recognize. The island was clearly blocking off sunlight for a large number of buildings and possibly houses below. Knuckles frowned. He did not like it when the island floated over settled areas. It was just a precaution he always insisted on taking.

The echidna noticed an ocean not so far away, though he could not tell what direction that was. Good. He didn't do it often, but it seemed he was going to have to command the Master Emerald to move Angel Island all the way out there. He was prepared to turn back and do just that, but he noticed something much further in the distance that caused him to stop. That was when he knew that atop that bad news was worse news.

Far away and high above the ocean was the faint but unmistakable outline of Robotnik's hovering fortress, its silver hull apparently gleaming in the setting sunlight.

As if that weren't enough, Knuckles began to hear certain sounds that came from his left. They were coming from above. He looked up to notice several flying machines approaching his island, machines that flew in the same way Tails did...but he could not recall what they were called. Regardless, he was able to see that these didn't seem like the kind of stuff Robotnik would use.

_Robotnik _and _others are both here? Now that's just great_. The flying machines seemed to be headed towards the center of the island. Knuckles the Echidna decided that they were the priority for now and he could deal with Robotnik later. He started to run back to the altar of the Emeralds. Robotnik or not, no threat was going to approach it and take what they want.

* * *

><p>Alan Doherty was not feeling comfortable. Before he could even open his eyes or think about what just happened, he felt a wave of nausea overwhelm him. Traveling at about twice the speed of sound made him feel screwed up on the inside. It felt even worse than food poisoning.<p>

Unable to hold it back much longer, Alan, who was barely able to stand up, started vomiting. He did it for at least four seconds straight, and it felt very damn good indeed.

No time to waste. Now that he felt better, he had to take notice of his surroundings right away. He opened his eyes.

Doherty found himself to be in the middle of a slum, on a narrow asphalt road with dilapidated concrete houses and buildings on both sides. He was obviously not alone here though as the inhabitants from the windows on the roadsides were all watching him. And they were all humans.

His first reaction to this was a sigh of relief. He was back on Earth. This had to be a good thing, right?

But then he remembered that Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Robotnik were there too when the Master Emerald had bathed the whole area in a bright flash. They had to be around here on this planet as well. He sighed again, this time to express how fed up he was. This wasn't over yet. Not at all.

Alan decided to focus on the positive first though, still glad that he was finally back after…

He paused. How much time exactly passed on Earth while he was on Mobius? Then he realized he could possibly calculate the answer. He quickly recalled the numbers Sonic and Robotnik had given. Robotnik was likely teleported to Mobius thirty years ago, but he stayed there for fifteen years. Alan himself had been there for almost 36 hours, give or take. So 72? But all of this is assuming Robotnik really was that guy…

_Let's just ask_, he told himself impatiently. Some of the people on the roadside were young children, and they had somewhat dark skin and black hair. Latinos? He listened carefully to what they were saying amongst themselves, and true enough, it was Spanish.

"_Disculpe_," Alan said politely, facing the kids, "what date is it today?"

The children were hesitant at first, but one of them, likely the eldest due to his height, told it to him. Only three days had passed since he was teleported from LA. His math was correct after all. He felt good to know that, not merely out of vindication but rather, if he were unlucky, it could have been several years or decades into the future already. Now for one more important issue. "_¿Dónde estoy, por favor?_"

"Caracas, Venezuela, _señor_," the same boy replied.

Alan's eyes widened at the answer. Venezuela? He knew about the relations between his country and his own. How would they react to...he promptly looked down to see that he was still in his combat uniform and that his weapons were all on him. While glad that they did not go missing, he was now worried about how he was going to explain-

There was the sound of boots trampling rapidly on the ground behind and in front of him, followed by that of guns clicking. "_¡Alto!¡policía!_"

"_¡Manos arriba!_"

"_¡Deténgase o disparo!_"

_Goddammit_. Knowing that there was no way he could fight out of this lest he cause an international incident, Alan raised his hands into the air and got onto his knees. As the policemen came up to him, he told himself that regardless of which country he was dropped into, his outfit would cause this to happen anyway.

* * *

><p>Doctor Ivo 'Eggman' Robotnik looked through the information on his computer screens in a hurry as he had been doing for the past ten minutes or so. He was thankful that the mass teleportation did not remove him from his beloved flying fortress, but he had to make sure it did not cause any problems to it in the process.<p>

Fortunately for him, luck was mostly on his side. He could find no technical difficulties with the massive emerald-powered thrusters, the armor, or anything else…except for the vaporizer cannon, which had been heavily dented by Sonic, but even then, he was confident it could still function properly.

Next he had to get some information, such as where he was. There was a view of a coastal city from the bridge's front windows, but there were no outstanding landmarks he could see from this distance to identify it. And the only maps his fortress had were that of Mobius, not Earth. Naturally, his attempt to identify where he was on the 3D globe model only got him a critical error.

But there was something he could do. His radar showed that a small aircraft had been circling around his fortress for some time now, which he ignored until now. His multiple exterior security cameras showed that it was a news helicopter. Its crew was doubtlessly reporting and showing everything about his fortress from the outside, and only then did he have an idea.

Robotnik typed a few commands on the computer keyboard to activate its various antennas. His intention was to connect to the various satellites up above and see which one belonged to the news station reporting on him now, and perhaps find out what happened to Sonic or the others at the same time. He began to flip through the frequencies. Another computer screen allowed him to see what the world was seeing on their television sets.

"…unidentified animal or alien in the middle of Times Square, New York, which took off at a tremendous speed as soon as policemen tried to approach it. It was last seen…"

„_...vor dem Brandenburger Tor erschienen, und nachdem es von einer Menschenmenge umgegeben wurde ist es plötzlich davongeflogen und in den Park verschwunden..._"

"…在卡拉卡斯，一位从空中突然出现，而且有武器和防弹服的男子已被警方扣留…"

"…massive alien spaceship here off the coast of Los Angeles, alongside the large hovering island that had suddenly appeared over a local coastal neighborhood…"

Robotnik paused at that one. Large floating island? Alongside? He checked his exterior security cameras again. Not finding anything out of the ordinary, he decided to turn the ship clockwise in terms of yaw. He applied a bit of engine power to the port side, and…

There it was. Angel Island was now right in front of the fortress, visible through the bridge's front windows. Cursing the security cameras for not having 360-degree coverage but otherwise feeling very full of glee right now, he engaged the thrusters to maximum level to head straight for the same target once more to get in range. He could hardly suppress his giggling or believe his fortune. The location may had changed, but his objective, and his means of accomplishing it, had not.

Robotnik was lucky, but not that lucky. As soon as the fortress started moving, his radar screen sounded and detected all sorts of incoming threats headed his way. He brought the huge aircraft to a standstill again to take a good look. The cameras faced downward and indicated that they were naval in nature. Overall, at least twenty ships had been sent out to face him. He had to give credit, they were certainly being precautious.

"This is the USS Stockdale of the United States Navy. You are to cease your aircraft's movements and allow us to board. This is your only warning," one of the ships below commanded sternly through a loudspeaker, which Robotnik heard through the audio sensors.

The doctor almost fell down laughing upon hearing the Navy's demand even as he considered the ramifications of the presence of this new adversary. Of course it wasn't going to be so easy. Sonic wasn't here, so it looked like he would have to go through these guys instead.

He grinned maliciously. It had been a while since he had to attack a full military force. This was going to be some good practice.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: In case you were wondering about what they were saying in other languages above, here are the translations:<strong>

**When Tails first appears in Berlin: "What is that?" "Don't know. A dog? A fox?" "With two tails?" "It does look scared, doesn't it?" "Yeah. And actually rather cute too."**

**During the news reports: "...appeared in front of the Brandenburg Gate, and after it was surrounded by a crowd, it suddenly flew into the air and disappeared into the park..." "...in Caracas, a man armed with weapons and armor who suddenly manifested in thin air has been detained by police..."**

**I know Sonic appearing in New York seems cliche, but since so many people do it, I might as well too. I think it can help in the plot anyway.**


	11. Chapter 10: Information

**Chapter 10: Information**

They were taking no chances. All of Naval Base San Diego's sixteen destroyers, as well as four of its cruisers, had been deployed to face the spaceship. The crews had already gotten their missile launchers armed, ready and pointed straight at the target.

Overall, they had over 1000 surface-to-air missiles to spare. Not to mention, the Air Force had various F-22As on standby just in case, with pilots eager to use their birds against an actual enemy for the first time since they entered service. The commander aboard each ship dearly hoped it would be enough. Ideally, of course, they wouldn't have to fire even one shot.

However, given that the spaceship continued to move in the direction of the strange island flying over their territory, it was not going to be likely. Even the commander of the _Stockdale_ had felt silly while giving that warning, as there was no chance whoever piloted this thing understood English or any human language…except for one. One that was presumably used not just on Earth, but universally as well. And it was communicated with the press of a button or two.

The commander ordered his men to keep their fingers on those buttons. If things really came to that point, they were more than ready.

* * *

><p>Sonic marveled at and was thankful for just how tall the buildings in this city were, as he was able to use them to his advantage. After getting tired of avoiding endless amounts of cars and people on the streets and in the alleyways, he decided to simply dash up the walls of one of them and hide on the roof. He was sure he couldn't stay here for long though, since this roof was the kind typical of skyscrapers that people could access via a nearby door.<p>

Far below, the hedgehog could still hear the sirens of police cars, though fortunately they were getting further and further away, not nearer. Looks like no one had been able to see where he had run off to. His training in the jungle applied equally well in an urban one, it seemed.

Having managed to escape attention for the time being, Sonic focused on the next step. He didn't know anything about Earth beyond what Alan had told him, which wasn't much at all. That was something he'd have to change.

But how to find out? After thinking for a while, he decided his best option was to follow the news. He remembered that there was a lot of media coverage in large cities. At least, that was the case on Mobius, but so far he saw no reason to doubt Earth wasn't the same in that way. There were an awful lot of large TV screens down there. Could one of them be a news channel?

Sonic shook his head at the suggestion. No way was he going back down there to check. He wasn't sure if he could get a good vantage point from which he could see the screens anyway. The buildings were just too tall.

Before he could come up with other plans, he was startled by the door next to him suddenly opening, and even Sonic wasn't quick enough to jump out of sight. He cursed himself for standing so vulnerably in the open instead of hiding somewhere, like in the spot where the door would cover him when it was fully open.

The hedgehog ended up being face-to-face with a human male in brown overalls. Both froze and stared at each other for what felt like forever, but was in fact only fifteen seconds.

"Holy crap!" the man exclaimed, his face white with shock. "Aren't you that…thing that appeared on TV? How'd you…how'd you come all the way up there?"

Sonic analyzed the situation, thinking as fast as he ran. Sure, he had been discovered, but only by one person. No need to be alarmed. As long as he said the right words, he could benefit from this. He already had an idea. "Well, you saw me on TV, right? My running trick? I can do it vertically too," he casually replied as if he were being asked his name or age.

"Damn, so you do talk!" The man seemed overjoyed now. "I knew you said something down there. This is just-"

"Shh," Sonic vocalized as he put a raised finger to his mouth. The guy was talking way too loudly. It's understandable that he would do so given his excitement, but Sonic had to keep this under control. Getting another crowd here would mean going back to square one. He continued silently, "look, I know you're excited to meet me, but…I need your help. Could you promise not to tell others about me until after I'm gone? It won't be long. Please."

The man looked at Sonic in confusion for a moment before replying, "um…okay. But, what do you need?"

"You said you saw me on TV. That means you have one, right? Actually, if you don't mind me asking, what do you work here as?"

"I'm just a superintendant for this apartment, and yeah, I have a TV. Even I ain't that poor, man. After all, we're in New York."

"Has the news said anything about other things happening?" Sonic asked, letting concern creep into his voice.

"Huh?"

"Long story short, I'm not the only one who's come to this planet. Have you heard about anyone or anything else that's showed up?"

"Hmm, I heard some folks talking about something like that, but I don't know myself. The TV's still on though downstairs though, maybe they're reporting on it now, if you really wanna know."

"Really?" Sonic smiled at the man's offer. "I'd appreciate it. Thanks."

The man smiled back. "No prob. Though, uh, running ain't allowed in the corridors. Just so you know."

Sonic remembered something Alan said when he first met him, and couldn't help but rephrase it. "To be honest, I thought you'd be more scared of me or something. But you sound like you trust me."

"Like you said, I saw you on TV," the superintendant started explaining, his smile still there. "A guy with powers like that, if you wanted to hurt someone you would've done it already. But you didn't. So, I think you're cool for two reasons now."

* * *

><p><em>That was close<em>, Tails thought as he sat on the orange roof of a somewhat old-fashioned building. He had first flown into the park before continuing north over the nearby river to escape people looking for him among the trees. After flying over several blocks, he decided he was far away enough from the commotion.

Now able to literally catch his breath, Tails could use his vast intellect properly again without any emotional hindrances. He started from the beginning. _Find information_. But how?

Tails remembered that Alan was familiar with the internet and how to use it. That was it. He now had to use Earth's internet. That meant getting a computer somewhere. The fox frowned, knowing it would be easier said than done. He could hardly go around and ask for one. If his timidity didn't stop him, the language barrier certainly wou-

His thoughts stopped there as he recalled what the people around him had said just now. As he was no longer panicking, Tails could now rifle through his memory to discover that the words, the language...there was a definite familiarity to it.

No one other than Sonic knew it, but English and engineering jargon were not the only languages Tails had learned while he still went to school in New Mobius. It was not the main language there, of course, and sometimes he wished it was, as that way, no one would have made fun of his real name.

It had been some time since he ever had to use it, though Tails was sure he still remembered enough of it. Exactly how much, however, was something he should find out now, as it could get him what he needed.

The two-tailed fox slid over carefully to the edge of the roof, making sure not to fall off or let anyone down below see him. As he got close to it, he realized that one of the people in front of that large gate had actually called him cute. It made him blush for a moment, but no longer than that as he shook his head to remind himself to focus on the important issues.

Looking over the street, Tails saw, to his relief, that it was rather empty, probably due to the time. There were a lot of parked cars, but no people walking around. All of the stores were closed too…except for a corner lot at the end of the opposite block, which still seemed packed with activity. He eyed the name of the shop written on the awning. _Ottos Kaffeehaus (mit freiem Wi-Fi)_, it read.

Wi-Fi? Now that was a term Tails had not heard of before. Maybe mobians called it something else…he looked at the closed stores again. There was a bakery shop, a tailor shop, another restaurant, and…a computer store. _Whew!_ Not to mention, the word Wi-Fi was repeated on its one of exterior signs, leading him to believe it was something relevant to his quest.

Tails looked back at the coffeehouse and saw something new. Some of the customers were casually using notebook computers which weren't connected to anything. Wireless…Wi-Fi?

Unable to help but feel somewhat excited that he may have figured it out, Tails made sure once again that the street was empty and that no one from the coffeehouse was looking in his direction. Even with his flight capability, he still had to look left and right before crossing the road. He wound up his tails to their highest RPM before shooting across. It took exactly one second for his feet to touch on the other side. Not bad.

He ran over to the rear of the building block and lightly dropped down into the alleyway. The front door was undoubtedly locked, as was the back one, though he hoped the latter was less secure. He turned the knob and found, naturally, that the door wouldn't budge.

Tails briefly considered finding a way to pick the lock, but that could likely set off an alarm. He could defeat a generic alarm system easily enough, but he had no idea where it was located here. Maybe he could get in and out quickly so that the police would think it was a false alarm, but he really didn't want to draw more attention.

After scanning the back of the building more closely, he suddenly saw something that could work. There was a ventilation shaft that stuck out of the wall in an L-shape. He examined the size, and then looked down to do the same with his own body. He should be able to fit inside. Hopefully.

He got to work, fitting his fingers into the grating of the vent cover and then pulling at it. After exerting a bit of strength, it came off rather noisily, which caused the fox to look around again to ensure he was really alone in the back alley.

_Okay, time to do this_. Tails placed the vent cover to the side before climbing into the vent. It was dark, stuffy, and not helping his breath or hygiene, but this wasn't the time to complain. Other than that he could still crawl and climb through without much difficulty.

Almost a minute later, he reached and felt another cover which he gently removed. He could feel that he was in the ceiling, and the last thing he needed was the cover to fall onto and break something below, possibly sounding the alarm.

He lowered himself gently from the ceiling opening, landed lightly on the ceramic-tiled floor, and saw that he was at the back of the store, behind the cashier. It was dark, but not overly so, thanks to the faint bit of streetlight coming through the large front windows and glass door, and the fact that his eyesight had adjusted to it.

This was enough to allow him to see how dirty he was as he looked downwards. Much of his furry body, especially his tails, and his normally white gloves were blackened by all the dust, dirt and whatever else there was in the vent. _Man, and I have to go through that thing again_, he thought with a sigh. This also meant that whoever opened the store the next day would know someone had definitely been here in addition to being shocked by the mess. Oh well.

Tails took a look around the store. Various computer notebooks were displayed on the desks. The list of features next to each model was lengthy, but the one that caught his eye again was Wi-Fi. Reading the brief accompanying description confirmed that it was indeed a wireless internet connectivity system. No wonder every model had it.

He reached his hands out to grab a notebook, but another consideration struck him: how was he going to tell which one was password-protected? Just in case, he would need to take more than one with him, even though that meant a more difficult return trip through the ventilation shaft. Rubbing his gloved hands together to get them as clean as possible here, he started taking the notebooks, each of a different brand.

Two minutes later, in the back alley, Tails crawled back out of the vent opening, carrying no less than four notebooks with him, as well as some earphones, even though they didn't exactly fit his large fox ears. His second voyage through the air vent wasn't so easy since he had to carry such cargo along. Not to mention, if he seemed dirty while inside the store, it was downright clean compared to how he looked now.

Tails spun up his namesakes and started to fly over to Otto's Coffeehouse, carefully clutching all of the notebooks with both hands. Getting information was more important now. Taking a bath could come later, though he wondered if he should soak himself in the river before leaving this city.

* * *

><p><strong>Los Angeles Field Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation<strong>

"Guys, guys!" a Special Agent shouted as he stormed into the conference room. "You're gonna want to see this!"

"Agent Latham, this better be good. What the hell else could possibly be more important than dealing with two UFOs over the city?" the man at the far end of the room, Special Agent in Charge McLaughlin said impatiently. He was holding a conference to discuss possible threats that could come out of both the spaceship and the flying island, and the measures they could take against them.

"Sorry to interrupt, sir, but, you know those aliens that appeared in New York and Berlin? Well, a third one showed up in Caracas, only it's not an alien, sir. My contact with the police down there sent me the info and a picture. Sir, it's…" his voice grew softer, "…it's Alan Doherty."

"What?" everyone in the room exclaimed at once. The spaceship and floating island was currently the main concern of this field office and possibly the whole country, leaving few people to pay attention to the other reports of aliens popping out of thin air.

"I got the email right here," Latham continued, holding out his smartphone as he approached the computer in front of the SAIC. "It'll only take a moment, sir."

"Alright, show it," McLaughlin ordered. He knew that the two UFOs were more pressing matters, but this was one of their own men, damn it. Not to mention there was no way Doherty's sudden reappearance wasn't connected to the other events.

Latham connected a cable to the computer and opened the saved email and its attached image. It appeared for all to see on the projected screen on the front wall, overlapping the map of LA they were looking at.

"Son of a-" McLaughlin blurted out, and the whole room of agents almost went berserk as they saw that the man in the photo was indeed Special Agent Alan F. Doherty. He was seated on a chair, flanked by two Venezuelan cops, and his expression appeared to be somewhat pale.

"My god, he's still wearing the same clothes," an agent pointed out.

"How have the police been treating him?" the SAIC asked.

"Okay so far. But sir, you know how relations are between our country and theirs. We'll need your help to get him out of there," Latham pointed out.

"I'm glad to find out he's alive and I will do everything in my power to bring him back home, but we need to deal with the problems right here first," McLaughlin replied. "I'm sure he'll understand...wait, does he know exactly what's going on?"

"I'm…not sure, sir. But I can talk to my contact and see what he can find out."

"You do that. For now, we have to get back to this briefing. Make sure you keep yourself informed about our plans if things get worse."

"Yes, sir," Latham said before unplugging his phone and hurrying out of the room.

"My God…" McLaughlin murmured to himself. "Looks like Doherty's been making some new friends lately."

* * *

><p>The helicopters continued to fly around the island, more precisely the altar, in circles, but made no attempt to land. Knuckles secretly observed them from the tree tops and got visual confirmation that the people inside were indeed humans after seeing the ones that stood at the open rear door of each craft. He thought about how the helicopters were very much like the questions that currently flew around the inside of his head.<p>

What were they planning to do here? Did they work for Robotnik? If so, were they ready to grab the Emeralds as soon as Angel Island was vaporized? If not, did these people know about the grave danger this place faced? And perhaps most pressing of all, how was he going to find out any of this? Ask them?

Before he could think or plan any further, Knuckles suddenly heard various loud sounds coming from the direction of the fortress. Explosions? He turned his head to look, having chosen a vantage point that allowed him to observe both the helicopters and the fortress without the former seeing him, and saw something that only confused and worried him even further.

* * *

><p>"Sierra Six, this is Sierra Two-One Actual. Island is clear except for the giant gemstone in the center. Awaiting further orders, over," the sergeant standing at the rear door of the Osprey reported into his radio.<p>

"Copy that. Better get the hell out of there, Harbinger is still approaching the island, over." 'Harbinger' was the current codename for the spaceship, which still showed no sign of slowing down.

"Affirmative, Sierra Six. Alright, let's-woah, what the hell?" the sergeant and his men exclaimed as they saw what was happening between the spaceship and their own ships far away. "What's going on over there, over?"

* * *

><p>"Sir, that thing's glowing brighter and brighter every second," the seaman noted nervously. The turret underneath the spaceship had suddenly showed signs of activity earlier as a bright light had formed at its wide mouth, and its glow continued to intensify. Everyone had watched enough science fiction movies to know what it was going to do.<p>

Having watched enough of it through the bridge window, the commander quickly reached for the radio to contact the Combat Information Center. "This is Commander Reynolds. Do we have a lock on that turret, over?"

"Yes, sir, just awaiting your command to fire, over," the reply came, with its tone suggesting the speaker really hoped the commander would give it right now.

Commander Reynolds took a deep breath before answering. "Do it."

* * *

><p>INCOMING MISSILE, the text on the screen informed Robotnik. The radar screen at first showed the blip of just one missile approaching, but only for a second as it was quickly followed up by many, many more coming from all present ships.<p>

However, this in turn was followed by the additional magic words that appeared: AGGRESSIVE DEFENSE SYSTEM ACTIVATED. The doctor lay back in the chair grinning. He had nothing to be worried about.

At least, that's what he first thought. Within moments, his grin disappeared as quickly as it formed when various error messages showed up on another screen. His calm demeanor melted away as it gave way to anger, mostly aimed at himself. "Argh! How could I have missed it!"

* * *

><p>"What the hell? Our missiles are blowing up before they touch it!" the seaman shouted, his nervousness switching to outright fear due to this observation.<p>

The same, though, did not happen to the commander. "Just keep 'em going! We have to be able to break through this thing! At the very least, it looks like we can stop that weapon from firing," he said calmly, pointing out how the turret's glow was already gradually dying down.

"Aye, aye, sir!"

* * *

><p>The ADS was working just fine. The problem was with the vaporizer turret. The real trouble that Sonic's collision with the thing caused had somehow not manifested until now. As the hedgehog had struck it, some of the power recirculators inside had been damaged, causing it to use up much more energy from the Emerald power cells than it should to fire. Energy that the ADS and the thruster engines also needed.<p>

In short, there was no way to keep all three running at the same time. The first idea that came to mind was to just let the Navy deplete their missiles, but there were simply too many of them. Fifteen ships he could still handle, but twenty? And if any of those missiles struck the engines…

There was only one solution left that he could think of, and it made the Robotnik grin madly again. His hands adjusted the turret controls. "Oh well," he commented as he shook his head, "you asked for this!"

* * *

><p>"Sir, the turret's aiming straight at us," the seaman noted, not trying to hide his concern, "and it's…it's brightening up again!"<p>

The turret now had the _Stockdale_ in the center of its sights while missiles continued to blow up around it. After the vaporizer reached its maximum charge, it unleashed a thick, golden beam of light that took only a few microseconds to reach the ship. The crew of the _Stockdale_ never stood a chance, and the commander didn't even get to mention how he was proud to have served alongside them before much of the ship disintegrated.

"Oh my God!" a seaman aboard the nearby destroyer, the _Wayne E. Meyer_, shouted in shock as he observed the destruction from the bridge. "My God, sir, the _Stockdale_'s gone! Not even sinking, just _gone_!"

And there was even worse news as they noticed how the laser beam was moving. "Jesus, we're next!"

"Unload every damn thing we have on that SOB!" the commander shouted into the radio, trying very hard not to lose his cool, but not really succeeding.

Nearly everyone else in the room was already scrambling to escape as the giant laser beam approached, ready to send all of them to certain doom. Three, two, one…

Before the beam could touch the destroyer, however, it suddenly vanished. "Wait! Wait! The beam's disappeared!" Another seaman who saw it happen called out.

The commander couldn't help but let out a big sigh of relief. "Good job, people," he spoke again into the radio to the CIC, sounding much calmer now, not to mention thankful. "Thanks to you, it looks like he won't sink anyone else here today."

The other crewmen looked up at the spaceship from the window to see what he meant. "Yeah, looks like it," one of them agreed.

Their joy, though, was rather short-lived. "Wait…is something opening up back there?"

* * *

><p>"Damn it!" Robotnik cursed as he slammed his fist on the desk. He had hoped to use the weapon to try and even the odds by removing the extra ships that threatened to overwhelm the ADS. Unfortunately for him, the vaporizer had turned a lot slower than it should. It was that collision Sonic left behind again, it seemed.<p>

As a result, he only managed to blow up one ship before a few of the missiles that got through slammed into and KOed the vaporizer completely. And that wasn't even the only thing that was damaged. The ADS' main hardware was located close to it, perhaps too close, and the explosions had reduced its efficiency by some 50 percent.

Robotnik knew he had to switch weapons now. There were some missile launchers to the sides of the fortress, but then he remembered he had something even better. It was a reason this fortress was so huge.

Within just a few seconds he hastily selected suitable targets that had showed up on the screen, and then, crossing his fingers, he pressed the launch button. Then he turned his attention onto the next step.

* * *

><p>"Something's coming out of those bay doors! Small spaceships!"<p>

A door in the rear half of the spaceship had slid open, and two smaller spaceships, each about the size of a heavy cargo helicopter, exited. They were powered by thrusters much like the main spaceship, except it was immediately clear that these moved much faster.

And instead of coming after the destroyers and cruisers, they were headed right towards the city.

"Switch targets, shoot those things down!" the commander ordered.

"New targets confirmed, firing RIMs!" the reply from the CIC came.

Every other ship did the same, now focusing their missile attacks on the two smaller crafts rather the main one. But they seemed to be equipped with the same system that forcibly detonated missiles after detecting them. Avoiding missiles left and right at nearly the speed of sound, they reached and started flying over LA airspace, heading towards just one target.

"They're getting out of range!" a CIC operator said.

"Sir, sir!" a seaman who was listening to another bunch of radios called out to the commander. "We're getting a message from someone. He claims to be from the spaceship. Everyone's getting it too, sir. Do I put it on?"

The commander was stunned by the news. Communication with this enemy has the last thing he expected to get. "Let's hear it," he said, having a bad feeling about all this.

The radio was put on speaker, and an unfamiliar yet unsettling male voice could be heard. "You may find it wise to stop firing on my fortress, because otherwise those carriers I just launched will bring very grave consequences."

"Christ, he speaks English?" someone muttered in disbelief.

"Goddammit!" another who observed the crafts, the city skyline and the maps shouted. "I think they're headed for the airport!"

The commander made his decision. "Stop firing! Stop firing!"

* * *

><p>In a rundown New York apartment, Sonic saw the drama with Robotnik's fortress unfold on the superintendant's old television set. His mind was screaming at him to get there right now to 'zoom and boom' rather than just stand here and watch it like it was a movie.<p>

But another part inside kept him here instead, insisting that he should keep watching, as he hadn't gotten the full picture yet. And somehow, that part was winning so far. Something was definitely happening, and he had a feeling he was going to find out what it was soon.

"Man," the superintendant exclaimed, "what the hell are those things he just launched there?"

Sonic snapped out of his thoughts and watched the news again. The camera was showing that two smaller flying crafts had been launched out of the fortress and were heading…somewhere. "I think he's about to give the answer."

"He?" The man sounded confused. "Who's 'he'?"

Sonic answered quietly, "you'll see."

* * *

><p>Of the four notebooks, only one didn't require a password to enter, which gave Tails some relief. He was able to connect to the coffeehouse's Wi-Fi after checking the digital instructions that were fortunately included, and felt glad that the connection could still reach him despite him sitting at the top of the awning, where there was a flat area just large enough for him to sit.<p>

After connecting, the fox started off his information hunt by looking up his location, the world map, and multiple news websites. He'd already read about himself appearing here in Germany, Sonic in New York, who fortunately managed to escape, Alan in Venezuela, who unfortunately did not, and of course, the Tornado. It turned out the plane had landed on a grass field mercifully near his location, in the neighboring state of Brandenburg, near a village west of here. The German news website mentioned that it appeared to have suffered only minor damage, and the Army already had been contacted to airlift it to a base for inspection.

Tails really wanted to fly there and take it back before the military reached it, but instead he found himself focused on Angel Island and Robotnik's fortress in Los Angeles.

Using a video streaming service Tails was able to get live news coverage of the event there which he watched with growing worry. The earphones proved useful as he could hear the audio while nobody below could, though he had to hold it to his ear with his hand to prevent it from falling in.

And judging by the two smaller crafts that Robotnik just launched, which Tails quickly recognized as robot carriers as they narrowly blew past the news helicopter's camera, he would need to hold the earphone for a little while longer.

* * *

><p><strong>Terminal 3, Los Angeles International Airport<strong>

The large groups of people who waited around in front of the gates were of different nationalities, ages and professions, but the one thing they had in common now was that they were grounded. All flights had been grounded due to the massive airborne threat that was almost directly in the way of the runways. They were stuck here.

What they didn't know, though, was that soon enough, they were going to be _really_ stuck here.

A loud noise was heard from far above as a huge hole was suddenly torn into the ceiling, roughly above the center of the large circular room, causing everyone to start panicking and running off to the sides. Within moments, a long, blocky spaceship descended inside and onto the floor, crushing many seats but thankfully no people.

The instant the craft touched the ground, it opened its front double doors and let out a bunch of robot buggies, which immediately roared around on their four heavy-duty wheels to the gates and the entrance to the long walkway that lead to the street while firing several shots into the air with their machine guns, scaring everyone even more. Once they reached their destinations, their weapons were pointed straight at the people. It was clear nobody was going to get out of here.

Two buggies rolled down the walkway to the street entrance. After they arrived, one stayed behind the doors while the other simply crashed through it onto the street, causing several passing cars to swerve or crash. Its optics looked to the left and confirmed that, in the distance, another buggy was stationed there, in front of Terminal 2, having come out of the second carrier that had just done the exact same thing.

Both then deployed a video screen in front to play a message from Doctor Ivo Robotnik. A message that was already sent to be broadcast on the news network.

* * *

><p>"So, you may be wondering who I am. My name is Doctor Ivo Robotnik, engineering genius extraordinaire. Most of you probably thought I was an alien, and I don't blame you for that.<p>

"But what I will blame you for is your military's attempts to block me from destroying or reaching the flying island and taking its Master Emerald and Chaos Emeralds, that which that I seek. And for that, I have decided to try something different. I'm going to make you give them to me instead.

"I have taken the people inside the two terminals of the airport hostage. Should you try and mount any rescue attempt, my robots will open fire and kill everyone. Should you try and fire any more missiles at my fortress, they'll kill everyone too.

"You may have noticed that the island and the Emeralds are guarded by a red-furred alien with large fists. You are to get rid of him in any way you desire if he tries to guard his treasures, and he almost certainly will. A warning though: he is rather strong. It won't be as easy as it looks.

"For that reason, and also because I'm rather generous, I will give you three hours to do it, starting the moment this video ends. Failing that, my robots will kill those people. And don't think this is a one-time affair, because they will escape in their carriers, and I can do the same thing all over again somewhere else some other day, and I will keep doing it until you personally give me all of those Emeralds.

"The choice is quite obvious, isn't it? I will wait, and it's best…that you don't."

The video ended on that note, and Sonic immediately got up from the couch. "Okay, that's it. I'm getting over there right now. Tell me how to get to Los Angeles. On foot," the hedgehog told the superintendant, his tone now serious and no-nonsense, not like when they first met upstairs.

"Uh…" the man began, pausing for a while before replying, "take Interstate 78, the highway, you'll see its number on the signs, and head west through the Holland tunnel, then I-70, I-44, I-40, and finally I-15 and you're there. The signs should show you when to turn."

"Thanks. You've just helped save those people. I'm outta here!"

"Hey, just one more thing!" the man added as Sonic turned, which caused a slight breeze in the room. "Who are you, actually?"

The question stopped Sonic, but only for a second before giving the answer. It was somewhat appropriate given that he might never meet this guy again. "My name's Sonic the Hedgehog."

"I'm Chris! Bye! Good luck, and watch out for the traffic jam!" he responded just in time before the hedgehog sped off down the corridor, for some reason heading back up the stairs rather than down.

"Damn, they must have heard that," Chris said silently with a chuckle, "wonder how am I gonna explain this to them?"

* * *

><p>The four stacked computer notebooks were gently placed in front of the closed computer store before the person who did it hurriedly took to the skies. Even in his rush, Tails still made sure not to damage those expensive pieces of hardware - the technophile in him simply didn't allow it.<p>

Up in the air, Tails checked his wrist device, which had a digital arrow that pointed in the direction the Tornado was in. Revving up his tails faster, the fox zoomed to the west as fast as he could. His plans to take a quick 'bath' were totally called off. He had to cross over a huge ocean _and _a huge country within three hours, and there was only one way to do that. There was no way for him to know if Sonic knew about Robotnik's ultimatum, and he planned to pick him up in case he didn't.

_But if he does and is already on his way_, Tails thought, _well, let's just consider it a race. Between me, Sonic…and time itself_.


	12. Chapter 11: Trust

**Chapter 11: Trust**

Sonic wasn't stupid. He knew that Robotnik was undoubtedly watching the news right now, looking for any signs of people yielding to his demands and of the hedgehog himself. But what was he supposed to do, stand still?

As he sprinted through the Holland Tunnel, which didn't take long to find, as fast and agilely as possible, he knew that the occupants of all the cars he was jumping over and avoiding were watching him, possibly and photographing and filming him as well. Some of those photos or videos would inevitably make it to the media, which meant Robotnik would watch them. He had to get off the road as soon as possible, running along beside it rather than directly on it. Making that a better idea was the fact that the traffic in front was getting worse.

Unfortunately for Sonic, after running out of the Tunnel, he saw there were still no adjacent grass fields or flat surfaces on which to run. The entire area was still urban. All eyes were on him. He could move fast, but not to the point where people could dismiss him passing by as a trick of the mind, at least not in this place. Especially since he had already appeared as a blue blur on TV.

Sonic leapt over a toll booth before landing and continuing without slowing down even slightly. The only good news now was that nobody knew he was heading west other than that one guy, Chris, whom he really hoped wouldn't reveal the secret. Sonic had no idea if the man even saw it as such. Hopefully he did. That way, even if Robotnik saw Sonic on the news again, he would assume the hedgehog was still lost. And that itself was unlikely due to the hostage situation grabbing all of the media's attention.

The map Sonic had seen in Chris' apartment let him know that America was a large country to traverse. He had not checked the scales, but it should be something within his abilities. Just to make sure, though…he checked his surroundings. There seemed to be a little less traffic now. More space on the road. At least for the moment.

Feeling sure that this wasn't going to happen often, or that it wouldn't last long, Sonic seized the chance, cranking his legs even harder than usual, equally dividing every iota of his attention on the road and on his movements. Three, two, one…

PAP! Cars traveling in either direction, both in front and behind, horned and swerved as a loud sound and a white halo manifested on the highway. Those with quicker perceptions saw a very brief blue blur race past. Some of them, naturally, were police officers, who immediately reported it in.

* * *

><p>"Hey!" the Marines standing in front of the altar's steps heard someone shout. "What are you doing here!"<p>

Everybody's rifle was raised at the red-furred newcomer the instant he made his presence clear. "Jesus! That Robotnik guy wasn't kidding!"

Knuckles had seen one of the helicopters land earlier, dropping out men with guns in front of the Emerald Altar, while another helicopter hovered over the Emerald itself and the third remaining one stood by for cover. He was only able to draw one conclusion, which was further confirmed by the man's comment. "You…you're doing this for Robotnik?" he asked angrily, fists raised while standing in a combat-ready stance.

"You're the guardian of this place that crazy fat ass was talking about?" a private asked in return, aiming his M16 nervously.

"Yes," Knuckles replied in a softer voice, before adding, "and you're only going to do his dirty work over my. Dead. Body."

The echidna and the Marines held eye contact for one more second. Both were already ready for a messy battle, but then came another loud, powerful voice that made sure to prevent it. "Hold it! Hold it! Squad, hold your fire and stand down!" It was the sergeant.

A black man noticeably taller than the rest of the team took a few steps closer towards Knuckles, holding his left hand high up to get his message clearly across. Fortunately, the other Marines complied, though they continued to aim their weapons at the echidna. His right hand held a rifle, but it was facing downwards. "Sergeant Henry Fulton, United States Marine Corps. I take it all those gemstones up there are yours?" he asked, sounding more polite or curious rather than aggressive.

Knuckles was confused for a moment. This wasn't what he expected. He did not soften his stance, though he gave his reply on a calmer note. He sighed before doing so. "Yes. I am Knuckles, the Guardian of Angel Island, the Master Emerald and the Chaos Emeralds. No one other than myself and a select few are allowed to interact with them. Their power is too great to be simply left in anyone's hands."

"Is that why this Doctor Robotnik is demanding to have them?" Fulton inquired further.

Knuckles nodded. "Yes. And if you are really going to do what he says, I cannot let you." He made sure to emphasize the last four words.

Fulton spun his head around to check the surroundings. Then he got back into the conversation. "Hmm, you don't really have any…you haven't watched the news, have you?"

A shake of the head. "Never have. Why?"

"Alright, in that case, did you see what happened out there just now? Certainly you got to observe Robotnik's spaceship and what it did if you stood at the island's edge."

Knuckles thought back and talked about what he saw. Large numbers of missiles being launched at the fortress from the ships below, but never reaching it due to some advanced defense mechanism. A ship being obliterated by Robotnik's vaporizer, which was in turn blown off itself by missiles that finally hit it. Then two smaller craft deployed from the fortress which headed into some part of the city which he couldn't really tell. "Wait, did something happen down there?" he asked, honestly curious, his initially hostile attitude all but dropped.

The sergeant nodded grimly. "You bet. Those two crafts smashed into two airport terminals, deployed a bunch of buggy robots and took everyone hostage. Robotnik wants the Emeralds in less than three hours; otherwise he'll kill them all."

Knuckles was taken aback by the answer. "Yeah, sounds like him, alright." Then he shook his head. "But I still can't let you take them. Trust me, what Robotnik plans to do with them will be far, far worse than that. The Master Emerald is what keeps this island flying, and I'm pretty sure Robotnik is using extracted Emerald power to keep his fortress flying. If he has them, he can make new weapons like that laser beam that can put the whole world in danger."

Fulton was silent for a while before he continued. "Look, I'm just following orders, and even then we weren't actually ordered to take those Emeralds, at least not yet. We're not supposed to negotiate with terrorists. And now that you've told us about the power those things have, it looks like an even worse idea now."

"But then what do we do, sir?" a private asked.

The guardian of Angel Island could only think of one idea. He dropped his combat stance for the first time. "Take me down there. Let me see how the situation in the airport looks like. I've handled robots before," he said, holding up his large fists as assurance.

The Marines looked at each other after hearing the suggestion. Finally, the sergeant spoke into his radio. "Sierra Six, this is Sierra Two-One Actual. We may have another way to solve this problem, sir."

* * *

><p>It was dark over the countryside in Brandenburg, as the moon wasn't there. This suited Tails just fine as he flew across the grass fields, headed west. At least for now, the black dust and dirt that covered his body came in useful as camouflage. He really didn't want people seeing him up here, and fortunately for him this place was hardly populated unlike Berlin, though it wasn't just because he was afraid of the attention.<p>

The fox checked his wrist device again, looking worried. Just after he exited the city, he got an alert from the device saying that the Tornado was moving, albeit not under its own power. That meant it was being carried or lifted already, most likely by the military. He was going to have to see how exactly they were doing it before he could make his next move, but he was pretty sure it would involve sneaking.

Tails was getting closer. The signal was only two and a half kilometers ahead. Urgency kicked in again, causing him to spin his tails even harder to cover the remaining distance. He reminded himself to find a method of flight even faster than this that didn't involve the Tornado some day, perhaps one that could even break the sound barrier. He was sure it was possible.

Then he finally saw something thanks to his night-adjusted eyes, though it would have been visible even without those. There were two white lights in the sky, part of a larger silhouette that was flying just like him. Tails also noticed that it was emitting an engine noise, and it sounded like a much more mechanical version of the sound his own tails made as they spun.

He got his confirmation as he approached the shape. It was a helicopter, a very large one too, dwarfing most planes he'd seen on Mobius. Below it was some long cables, at the bottom of which dangled the Tornado itself. Finally!

Tails flew lower to get to his plane when he realized the noise was very loud indeed, even for this huge chopper. When he looked up, the reason became clear to him. There was a second, identical helicopter flying roughly fifty feet ahead of the one behind it, with cables stretching down to hold up the front of the Tornado. Both of them flew relatively slowly, however, allowing Tails to catch up with little effort.

Now he had to create a plan to get himself and the plane out of here. He couldn't just get in it now and fly it, not without dragging the helicopters along and likely destroying them. He didn't want to hurt the pilots who were simply doing their jobs. Even putting morality aside, these huge aircraft would definitely weigh him down, and he was in a hurry.

Tails had to cut the cables between the Tornado and the helicopters. He could accomplish that easily enough by flying in with his namesakes sharpened at the tips, and then quickly getting in to start the engines, but after observing the ground below, it was clear there wasn't enough height. The plane would fall onto the field a second time. Even if it didn't disintegrate, the damage would render it unable to fly. The image of it was enough to make Tails wince.

Then he thought of something. The ground here wasn't even, and was actually quite hilly. He raised his own altitude slightly and looked straight ahead and downwards, scanning for any changes in the surface. Up, down, up, down, and…way down. A cliff was coming up ahead.

As they passed over it, Tails saw that the cliff was very tall. Certainly tall enough. In front of the cliff was a wide open plain with no other mountains or obstructions. He sighed in a mixture of relief and happiness. There was a way out after all.

But then he noticed the helicopters were starting to lower themselves. Uh-oh. His window of opportunity was short, and he had to act now.

Tails hurried over to the Tornado and around it, giving it a quick examination. There were some scratches on its underside, but that was all. Everything else thankfully looked fine. Especially the engines. He was also glad to see that his goggles were inside the cockpit on the seat, visible through the canopy.

It was finally time to act. Tails entered the number code on the digital keypad, whose buttons were arranged in a horizontal line, hidden near the base of the canopy. Due to the helicopters' descent, he almost pressed the wrong key a few times while keeping pace, but in the end he got it right on the first try.

The canopy slid open, but Tails wasn't going to sit inside yet. Still in flight mode, the fox held one hand to the dashboard and pushed a button. The Tornado's engines roared the life, the noise it made competing rather fairly with that of the helicopters. The pilots and crew were definitely going to hear it, but that wasn't going to matter soon.

* * *

><p>"What the hell?" the pilot in the rear helicopter spoke. "What's that noise?"<p>

"It's coming from the jet below," the copilot answered, glancing down from the cockpit with his night vision goggles on. "Huh? I see something…flying? It's not the plane, some small helicopter-what the hell is it doing?"

* * *

><p>Looping around the cables, he got behind the plane, facing the same direction as all three aircraft, and shot all the way forwards, his spinning tails now in slicing mode. He planned to cut the rear cable first, so that the plane would be falling while facing upwards, allowing a relatively safer takeoff.<p>

Shing! Shing! With the cables gone, the Tornado was now in free-fall, nose faced upwards at a thirty-degree angle from the horizontal. Tails rushed downwards, adrenaline already pumping, and his namesakes still spinning to allow him to catch up with it quicker.

* * *

><p>"The plane is falling! That helicopter cut the cables!" the copilot shouted in alarm as he looked downwards with a shocked expression, which only grew even more shocked as he noticed something else. "Wait, that's not a-it must be that flying creature from the news!"<p>

* * *

><p>Tails had already climbed into the cockpit and rammed the lever up to its maximum thrust. The engines were roaring loudly and working hard, but the plane still wasn't rising yet. The fox compared the remaining height he had to the thrust his engines were capable of and did a quick calculation. He concluded that it had to work, but it didn't make him feel any less nervous.<p>

One hand continued to push the thrust lever, even though it couldn't be pushed any further, while the other tightly gripped a control stick, adjusting the wing flaps to hopefully overcome gravity faster. He didn't dare to look outside. "Come on, come on!" he begged while gritting his teeth. If he had judged the height wrongly and it didn't work-

But it did. As it hit just twenty feet above the ground, the Tornado began shooting forwards and upwards, and it continued to go faster. He opened his eyes again. "Whew!"

Closing the canopy and putting on his goggles for night vision, Tails assumed a much more confident stance in his seat. It felt great to be in it again. He checked his wrist device. Two hours and fifty minutes left. For the first time since he arrived on this planet, the fox smiled. "Alright, Sonic," he said in a determined tone before putting on his oxygen mask, "here I come!"

* * *

><p>"Oh, <em>verdammt doch mal<em>…" the pilot in the front Sea Stallion helicopter said in disbelief as he saw the jet launch itself from below him towards the horizon. Only a minute ago that thing was dormant, safe and secure. And now this.

Suddenly it dawned on him that the plane, or whoever was now controlling it, could pose a great danger to national security. He activated his radio. "This is _Schatten_ Two-Two! The fighter jet has activated and is headed west, destination unknown! We need the Air Force now!"

* * *

><p>The sun was already going down. Most of World Way, the street on which each LAX terminal had their entrance, was already blocked off by the police, airport security and FBI personnel. Numerous police officers and SWAT members took positions behind police cars outside of Terminals 2 and 3, both on the street and on the runway tarmac, but they simply could not go in. Nobody here at all was trained to handle killer robots.<p>

The Osprey helicopter approached the top of the parking lot building opposite Terminal 2 and managed to find a spot to land despite the large number of cars. Knuckles and several Marines including Sergeant Fulton jumped out if the already open rear door.

Other than the usual radio chatter, the ride here from Angel Island had been silent and awkward. Sierra Six had reluctantly agreed to the offer on the condition that the Marines kept watch on the echidna, and most of them were worried of his large fists. Similarly, Knuckles almost changed his mind about helping out when he learned that the other two helicopters would stay, but went along after being told they had no interest in taking the Emerald and letting the island fall on and crush the houses and buildings below it.

Knuckles was about to approach the northern barrier overlooking the street and the terminal when Fulton stopped him. "Wait, hold on. Better not to show yourself to the police so fast first."

There was a scoff. "If they're going to reject my help because of how I look, too bad for them."

"No, not that. Just let me talk to them first. It won't be long," the sergeant assured. He went up to the barrier. Talking to the police was pretty much the extent of help he could give, as otherwise it would be a violation of Posse Comitatus, the law that prevents the use of the military as a police force. "Excuse me?" he called out to the assembled SWAT officers below. "Sergeant Fulton, Marine Corps. Who's in charge here?"

One of the men turned around to face him. "Sergeant Watts, LAPD SWAT. Did you really bring in that guy from the flying island?" he asked skeptically. The police had been informed of the echidna's arrival in advance via radio.

"He's right here," Fulton confirmed. Knuckles stood up on the barrier for all to see before falling three stories onto the pavement, though the way he landed made it look as if it was only three feet, startling everyone somewhat. The SWAT members all pointed their guns away from the terminal entrance and towards him.

"Okay, I'll keep this short," he spoke, ignoring the threatening and worried looks he was getting. "My name is Knuckles. I know how to deal with robots, and I need to know how the situation inside is like so I can deal with them. If you don't believe me or want me here, I'll just go away. Simple as that."

Watts didn't know what to do for a moment. This was supposed to be a police responsibility. But given the nature of the hostiles today… "Stand down, everyone. What…what do you plan to do?" he asked.

"Do you have any way of seeing inside?" Knuckles took another look at the smashed glass entrance. One robot could be seen ominously guarding the entry point behind it, but no more. Behind it was a long walkway that led to the main part of the terminal, which is where the other robots certainly were.

"We do, actually. We managed to get the feed of the security cameras right here. Guess it'll be more useful to you than to us. Craig, show it to him," Watts ordered an officer, who was standing in front of a computer on a trolley near a SWAT van.

Knuckles went over to the computer that Craig swiveled towards him. The screen showed the viewpoints of various security cameras inside. He examined them as he crossed his arms. It took him a moment to determine which ones overlapped and looked over the same spot. After that, he counted at least eight robots, which, excluding the one near the entrance, were all quite near to each other, machine guns pointed straight at the terrified hostages gathered around.

"Good, looks like there's not much distance between them…" the echidna muttered to himself. He felt his confidence rising, knowing that he could very easily tackle one robot before moving on to the other, and then the next one, and the next…

But only then did he remember something that almost made him slap his own forehead in disbelief. He couldn't believe he forgot about it. "Wait, they took over two terminals, not one, right?"

"Yeah, Terminal 3, all the way over there," Watts replied, pointing down the road. He sounded a bit dejected. "Just what I was thinking. You can't handle two terminals at a time, not when they're so far apart, can you?"

Knuckles looked at the ground and shook his head. "No. I can save the people in this terminal, but the ones in the other one will get killed," he said with a sigh.

"Can't you tell us something about these robots so we could act?" the SWAT sergeant asked with a hint of desperation.

"Can't. Sorry. I just smash robots, not examine them, and anyway I've never seen these before."

"Then what the hell can we do?" He didn't bother hiding his frustration now.

The echidna's feelings about the situation were similar, though he kept them in. There was no way to save everyone here.

_Not unless…_Another idea came to him, probably the only feasible one, as much as he hated to admit it. "We might have to wait for a…an associate of mine."

"What?" The officers looked at him incredulously. "Who?"

"Someone like me, sort of," Knuckles tried to explain. "I don't know if you've seen him or not, but I have a feeling he's on his way here now."

* * *

><p>Across the ocean, Tails had already exceeded the speed of sound in the Tornado shortly after getting the plane back, and was now moving three times faster than it. Which was a good thing as there were plenty of other jets now actively pursuing him.<p>

It was clear that none of them could keep up with him, but he still had to be mindful of the ones coming from in front. He really wished he could communicate with them to clear up his intentions, but the communications technology and software between his and their planes were just too different. Multiple warnings of incoming air-to-air missiles flashed up on the dashboard, but the ECM was able to intercept them and render them harmless.

For the most part, anyway. One of the missiles suddenly exploded prematurely at least twenty meters away, and a piece of shrapnel ended up penetrating the Tornado's nose. Tails winced as his screens immediately lit up in red and informed him of the damage and where it was located. Fortunately, a quick glance showed none of it affected his present flight ability, but he would need to do a more thorough checkup later.

It took more violent swerves and raising altitude to above the clouds before the German Luftwaffe jets were finally completely out of sight. Tails, however, had not let go of his breath. Still going at Mach 3, he pressed a few buttons to run a full system diagnostic.

About ten seconds later, the results appeared, thankfully showing that the plane did not sustain any real damage, except to one part: the autopilot. Tails sighed, both out of disappointment and relief. _Could have been worse, I guess_. It would take a simple repair job, but until he got the chance to do so, he would need to stay in the cockpit to fly the aircraft.

At the very least, the radar-absorbent coating was unaffected barring the one chink on the nose, which, coupled with the plane's other stealth characteristics meant he could still evade the Dutch, Belgian and British Air Forces. It was more or less a smooth flight from here to America.

Now though, Tails turned his attention onto a new issue. He remembered how Sonic most likely still had the earpiece with him, and it was imperative that he talk to the hedgehog about something else that came to his mind now. But first he still had to get within the maximum range the earpiece could reach up to.

* * *

><p>"Are you sure?" Sergeant Watts asked into his radio. "Very well. Thanks for informing." He turned to face Knuckles, looking calmer now. "Okay, looks like you could be right."<p>

"What is it?"

"Our boys back at the station are monitoring what seems like an increase in reports of a blue blur racing through Pennsylvania and Ohio on the interstate, according to random folks on Twitter that live there and local highway patrol units. Apparently he broke the sound barrier. Fits what you've given and what they'd seen in New York." Knuckles had described Sonic to the police earlier before being told about Sonic appearing in Times Square earlier.

The echidna, of course, having no idea about the geography or technology of this planet, didn't understand. "What, so, he's coming here?"

"Hard to say, but it does appear to be heading west. We'll watch out for further reports. Either he knows what's happening, or he's just lost." Watts frowned. "You really believe he can help?"

"If he gets here, yes," Knuckles replied before sighing. "But who knows what he's doing now." He walked over to the smooth wall of the parking lot. "Guess I better tell those guys up there too," he said before jumping up and bouncing off another perpendicular wall, and then off the first one again, reaching and climbing over the top of the three-storey structure in just five seconds, to the amazement of everyone present.

* * *

><p><em>What was Knuckles doing?<em> Robotnik had been surprised to see the echidna appear and talk to the police, which was mostly caught on camera by many of the local news channel, causing the reporters to make wild speculations. He frowned, having expected a big fight between Knuckles and the authorities, but cooler heads had prevailed, it seemed.

But continued observance yielded interesting results. Instead of recklessly charging into one of the terminals, however, he ended up backing off instead and jumped back up to the roof of the parking garage, leaving the news camera's view. Good. Looks like even he wasn't that stupid.

The doctor checked his timer. Two hours, fifteen minutes remaining. The plan would proceed unchanged…unless he was convinced that Sonic was somehow aware of the situation and was going to LA to deal with it.

It hadn't taken long for Robotnik to catch up with the latest technology on Earth, and was already monitoring Twitter comments closely, especially the ones coming out of the Midwest. There had been a few reports of a blue blur moving across that area, although it was difficult to determine if the hedgehog even knew where to go. Meanwhile there had been no sign of that two-tailed fox after he flew off into the night in Berlin.

If either of them showed any sign of approaching LA, though, Robotnik planned to simply move up the timetable just to mess with them. He knew it was more efficient to simply shorten the time given to the military and police right now, but assuming they really knew about the crisis, he wanted to give them, but especially the speedster, false hope. It was just more satisfying that way, wasn't it?

_No, wait_, he thought as he sternly reminded himself of the other, and possibly the main, reason he'd held the airport hostage: to buy himself time. By pulling that stunt, he'd narrowly avoided getting pummeled by more missiles launched by the Navy cruisers, which so far held their fire, though they remained in the same positions below. With the chunks the ADS had lost to the missile impacts, it was a wonder the thing still functioned even partially. Other than that, there was also the matter of the fortress' slowly dwindling emerald power reserves, which meant he had to get out of here sooner or later.

Robotnik briefly considered contacting the cruisers again and demanding them to move away, but decided against it as they would likely and correctly interpret it as a sign of weakness on his part. No, it was best to keep up with the bravado, the image that he was in control.

He wasn't overly concerned, though, since even if it failed, he had another escape plan. It's just that he would much rather be able to get away with this entire fortress, even if he didn't get the Emeralds. Who wouldn't? _Yes, I have everything planned out_, he decided, putting on another grin, although this one was smaller than usual. _Definitely_.

* * *

><p>"Sonic? Sonic? Are you there?" a familiar young voice unexpectedly called out in the hedgehog's ear, and it startled him almost to the point of him tripping over at the speed of sound. He did not want to imagine that happening.<p>

Fortunately he was able to keep his footing as he slowed down slightly and answered. "Tails?" he asked incredulously. He had forgotten about the earpiece that was still with him.

"Sonic! You're there!" Tails said, sounding very relieved. "I'm so glad! I thought something happened to you!"

"I'm even gladder!" Sonic responded, and Tails knew it was certainly true, judging from his voice. "You okay? Where are you?"

"I'm fine. I'm on the other side of the ocean, but don't worry, I've gotten back the Tornado and coming to you now. Sonic, have you heard about what Robotnik did?"

"Sure have. Broadcasted it on TV, didn't he? I'm gonna save those people right now!"

"Sonic, wait, hold on!" Tails added quickly. "Where are you?"

"I'm on the, uh, interstate, going west through some city. I managed to get some directions, I'll tell you how later, but I'm on the right track. Trust me."

"Interstate? You mean the highway?" Tails hadn't read or heard anything about America's Interstate Highway System, but he could deduce that a country that large would have something like it.

"Yeah. Pretty convenient, as long as you don't mind the traffic. Or the potholes."

"Wait, traffic? That means a lot of people are seeing where you're going!"

"I don't know about that, but even if they know where I'm going, I can't just wait around. Besides, this seems like a great place to run through so far."

"I know, Sonic, but what about Robotnik? He's definitely looking out for reports of your presence too. His fortress must have the technology to connect to any news satellite within range, not to mention the internet. Sonic…" he trailed off on a worried note.

"Yeah?"

"Sonic, if Robotnik finds out you're coming, he might move the deadline up or even just kill them outright."

"But then…what am I supposed to do? I have to keep running, right? There has to be more empty spots."

"Sonic, they'd only build a highway system like that to connect densely populated areas like cities together. You're not going to able to avoid civilization and detection by running on it. I mean, you're already running between lots of cars, right? And I don't think the geography will let you travel in a straight line directly to LA, even if you knew the exact direction. And people would still spot you."

Sonic sighed inwardly. It was true. He was fast, but not to the point where he could be invisible. Sure, if anyone blinked, they'd miss him, but there were a lot of anyones around, and they weren't blinking. He wished he had a compass or something…then he remembered Tails had one. "Wait, Tails, you're coming to me in the Tornado, right?"

"Yeah, I can track your location, remember?"

"You thinking of what I'm thinking?"

"Yeah. Where are you now? Can you find an isolated area, somewhere? A really big one, too?"

Sonic quickly glanced around, having just left the city limits. "There're plenty of grass fields and hills here, and it's pretty dark…yeah, should be no problem. You sure you can make it here in time with no one detecting you?"

"Don't worry, I can. I know it's tempting to run there, Sonic, but this way's safer. Trust me."

"You know I always do, bro," he replied before jumping off the interstate and onto the grass field, racing off towards the hills. It would be the last glimpse anyone would have of Sonic the Hedgehog for now.

* * *

><p>Special Agent in Charge McLaughlin was in the conference room, watching the screens of the cameras carried by the FBI personnel on-site at LAX as well as the news. Like everyone else, he'd been mystified by the sudden appearance of the echidna coming in from the flying island, and more still by its claims. He didn't know whether to trust it or not, but it had jumped away and was with the Marines now, so there wasn't anything he could do about it.<p>

His cell phone suddenly rang. He answered immediately, having expected a call after making one earlier. "Special Agent in Charge McLaughlin, FBI, Los Angeles field office," he announced in a rehearsed fashion.

"Sir? It's me," the voice of Alan Doherty spoke up.

"Doherty? Jesus, how and where are you now?" Everyone else in the room turned to look at the SAIC, some looking confused, others relieved.

"Bit of a problem with my stomach, but otherwise I'm alright, sir. I'm at the embassy now, getting a ride to the airport to catch a flight back home."

McLaughlin was surprised. "Didn't expect the director to act that fast."

"The ambassador came over to the police station immediately after he got the call from the director, or so he said. There was an argument, but then they saw what was happening on the news and decided to let me go. Thanks for calling the director for me, sir."

"No problem. Speaking of which, you faced any down there?"

"Not really, nothing much happened here. They even had a doctor see me. Though looking at their faces when I left, I bet they're not happy they couldn't charge me with anything."

"Well, at least that's over. When are you getting here?"

"Flight should take maybe four hours…but given what's happening at LAX, I'm not so sure it'll happen."

"Right." McLaughlin frowned. "You'd probably want to know one of your, uh, friends was just talking to the police there. The red-colored one."

Now it was Alan's turn to be surprised. "Really? About what?"

"Apparently he wants to help smash the robots and save the hostages, but that he needs to wait for someone else to come first, a hedgehog, he says."

"He's taken hostages in two separate terminals, right?"

"That is correct, yes."

"What kind of robots are there?"

"They look like…buggies, sort of. About the same size, four off-road wheels, noisy, machine gun on top, don't know if they have any other weapons."

That sounded very familiar to Alan. "Jesus. I've encountered that thing where they came from, believe it or not."

"Seriously?" McLaughlin asked. "What do you know about them?"

"The red guy, his name is Knuckles, he's right. We'll have to rely on them to take the bots out, all he's waiting for is Sonic, that's the name of the hedgehog, maybe even Tails too, that's his friend."

The SAIC's eyes almost bugged out. "My God, you really know all these aliens?"

"It's a long story, sir, but trust me, if they want to help, they're sincere about it. Also, I have some tactical advice for our guys, so we're not totally helpless."

"What is it?"

"If you shoot the robots in the head, the front part with eyes, enough times, at least ten shots, they will be disabled. Make sure the SWAT and HRT guys' rifles are loaded with the usual Federal 62-grain Tactical Bonded ammo. It will work. I did it myself."

McLaughlin had to pause for a moment. "Sounds like you've had quite an adventure."

"I'll tell you and the Bureau all about it when I get back. Oh yeah, one more thing. I think one of them, maybe Sonic, might ask one of our boys for me by name. Make sure everyone knows so they don't panic. Let them stay at the field office, at least until I get back."

"Uh…very well. Thanks for this information."

"It's the least I could do after you helped me out. I need to get to the car now. See you when I return."

Only after the call ended did McLaughlin realize just how much info he had received, and that he should waste no time sharing it now, if only to relieve the weight of it. "Alright, listen up, people!" he announced, turning to the other agents and analysts. "Alan Doherty just called, and you all need to know everything he just told me. It is directly related to our situation."


	13. Chapter 12: Rescue

**Chapter 12: Rescue**

It was hard to tell how much time had passed. Maybe an hour or so. His impatient and on-the-move nature meant Sonic never really knew how to keep count of it. And if it wasn't for the fact that the person he was waiting for was Tails, there was no way he would be idling around here.

Sonic had run far away enough from the interstate that it, including the lights from the cars and lampposts on it, was no longer visible, even while on top of the grassy hill. He had looked 360 degrees around him to ensure there was no other sign of civilization either.

During all this time the hedgehog had sat in the middle of nowhere and the darkness wondering about how far away he still was from his destination, which led him to think about how big this country was, and in turn to think about how much scenery there was here. It was actually quite like home, really. Closer to New Mobius than Old, but the similarities he could see for now surprised him.

Though as much as he wanted to explore, Sonic reminded himself now was just not the time. There were still too many people that would see him coming, whose chatter about him passing by would be picked up by Robotnik, and once that happened…Sonic was feeling worried. If Tails didn't come in time, then it would already be too late even if he started moving out now. They had last spoken over the earpiece maybe thirty minutes ago, and Tails assured him that he was coming, but-

_No!_ he snapped at himself for such thoughts. Tails was coming, and he knew it. That fox could do amazing things, especially with the Tornado, even if he never saw them that way. _Come on, buddy…_

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a low hum. It was coming from afar, in the air, and it was becoming more and more audible. Realizing how familiar it sounded, Sonic looked in its direction and broke into a wide grin. _I knew it!_

"Hey bud!" Sonic called out loud, waving his arms at the approaching shape, which was slowing down and lowering itself vertically onto the flat area below the hill. As it got closer, he saw there was no mistake, it was the blue and golden plane he knew and loved. The unmistakable outline of Tails in the cockpit appeared to be waving back. It must have been really dark, since he could barely even see the fox's orange-golden fur.

Not wanting to waste time, Sonic jumped off the hill and somersaulted onto the Tornado's left wing. As he landed, the canopy slid open. "Sonic!" an excited young voice called out.

"Hey Tails!" Sonic happily greeted in return. Then he noticed that most of Tails' fur was still really black even up close. "Woah, where'd you dye yourself?" he asked in amusement.

Tails looked down at his blackened body and stuck out his tongue. "Ugh, I don't wanna talk about it now."

"Fair enough," Sonic said, but then his smile disappeared. He walked over to his usual spot on the plane before the vertical stabilizers. "Alright, let's get this done. You sure you can get there in time?"

"Positive," Tails replied, nodding. He was already taking the plane upwards. "I actually came ahead of schedule, in fact."

"How much time left?"

"Fifty-five minutes. We'll make it." Tails sounded unusually confident.

"You actually managed to come all the way here without being detected? Nice."

"Yeah, other than in the beginning, but don't worry about that. Kinda surprised me too. They're probably not going to be too happy that I sneaked through all of their radars and satellites…" He put back on his oxygen mask, closed the canopy and put his hand on the thrust lever. "But I'll deal with that later. Let's go!"

* * *

><p>This was strange. The reports of Sonic's appearances had abruptly ceased, with the last one saying he was still on the interstate somewhere around Pennsylvania or Ohio before vanishing. There had been no trace of the hedgehog since then.<p>

The deadline continued to inch closer and closer, but there was no sign that Sonic was approaching Los Angeles at all. Maybe he really was just lost. It didn't matter.

Robotnik knew he certainly had the means to carry out his threats, even the ones beyond this airport situation. There was no reason not to prove he was serious. If he really had to lose the fortress itself though, so be it. He could still salvage more from this huge mechanical beast than they thought.

Besides, he knew he simply couldn't pass up on the chance to cause considerable anguish to Sonic, not to mention damage to his ego and confidence. To remind him that his speed still had its limits.

There wasn't much time left. Ivo Robotnik got up from his seat and walked to another computer terminal near the bridge entrance. It was time to put the preparations in place.

As he started typing, however, something suddenly happened, and it was shown on both his robot camera screens and the live news coverage. As he turned around to watch them, he felt his jaw drop. He could not believe what he was seeing.

* * *

><p>"There're only ten minutes left, Knuckles," Sergeant Fulton said to the echidna, not sounding hopeful or optimistic. "And there haven't been any reports of that hedgehog for over two hours since he disappeared in the Midwest. Are you absolutely sure they will arrive?"<p>

Knuckles himself was trying to hide his rapidly fading confidence, but failing badly. "Yes. They will make it," he answered without looking at Fulton, crossing his arms.

"To be honest, you don't sound very convincing or convinced."

The echidna struggled to keep calm. "I'm…not very good at that."

"Only thing I can think of right now is to airlift the Emeralds straight out. They're standing by just for that order. Maybe buy us some-"

"What?" Knuckles turned to face the sergeant, looking half-shocked, half-angry, all-ready to fight, as his fists were raised aggressively. The other Marines had already raised their rifles in response. "If you do that-"

"The people that live underneath that flying island have already been evacuated," Fulton interrupted, his voice raised. "And I'm not saying we give the gemstones to that asshole up there, just pretend to, maybe hold him off just a little longer."

"What if it doesn't work?" Knuckles asked, hissing.

"Then it would be your own damn fault for not trying to do something after saying you would!"

"If I go in there, the people in the other terminal will die. You're willing to let that happen?"

"After what you told me what Robotnik could do? Sure. Short term loss for long term gain, goddammit. It's that simple. I don't like making that choice, but that's the option I'd choose any day."

"But then…" As he trailed off, Knuckles was surprised by just how much he wanted to save all those people as well as defeat Robotnik at the same time. The resemblance to what Sonic would say and think unsettled him somewhat. Of course, there was another other reason he was opposed to the idea. "What about Angel Island?"

"If it doesn't survive the fall, I guess you'd have to find somewhere else to live. It's just a huge rock. A flying one, but still a rock nonetheless, and I'd sacrifice that to save lives any day as well."

Falling from that height, Angel Island would certainly crumble into pieces and become a casualty itself as far as Knuckles was concerned. He could not imagine settling in some place other than Angel Island. Especially not on a planet he knew nothing about. "I can hit you before you even reach that radio, you know," Knuckles warned.

The Marines continued to nervously train their weapons on the echidna. If Sergeant Fulton felt the same way, however, he was doing a good job of hiding it. "If anything happens to me, they've been instructed to lift the damn thing," he said calmly.

Knuckles' eyes widened at that revelation. He was pretty sure he could win this fight almost instantly, but there was no way he could stop those helicopters. "Very devious," he commented in a soft, annoyed tone.

"Devious? More like practical," Fulton shot back. "Now you know who, or rather what, you should be fighting."

Knuckles stood still for a moment, and then sighed. "Fine," he said with resolve. He turned around and slowly walked over to the barrier. He could move a lot faster than this, but he deliberately delayed himself, doing so in the slim hope that Sonic, Tails, or both would suddenly but finally show up.

He stopped as his ears picked up a new sound. A low hum, steadily increasing in volume. It sounded quite familiar and seemed to be coming from…up there. He and the other Marines looked up to see what it was, and only Knuckles recognized it. He was very glad that his slowdown actually paid off. "Finally," he muttered, some relief in his voice for once.

The Tornado was visible against the starry night, hovering quite a distance away from the ground as something blue and spinning appeared to jump off it. It landed on the control tower that stood between the two parking garages before leaping off and landing on the one that Knuckles and Marines were standing on, causing the latter to immediately turn their rifles onto the newcomer while swearing in shock.

"Knux!" Sonic called out, grinning. "We were wondering who you were from up there. Nice to see you're fine. Uh, these your new friends or something?"

"No wonder it looked like you disappeared off the planet's surface," Knuckles responded grumpily, crossing his arms and glancing at the still hovering Tornado. "About time you got here."

"Sorry, it's just that I couldn't let anyone else see I'm coming, and it was really Tails' idea…do you guys really have to keep pointing those at me?"

Sergeant Fulton, as usual, was the only human who kept his cool. "Settle down, squad. So, you're the one Knuckles was waiting for," he spoke as he got closer to get a good look at the hedgehog personally. "Goddamn, so you are real."

"Uh, thanks?" Sonic replied, not really sure what to say to that, but after his tone became more serious. "Anyway, what's the situation? And plan?"

"Hostages are held up in Terminal 2 in front and Terminal 3 over there," Fulton quickly answered while pointing to said locations. "Your red friend here said he'd wait for you to come, and then each of you enter one building and take out those robots, while the cops take out the one at the front door. Apparently they got some tactical advice from the FBI, no idea how the hell they learned about that though."

"Really? Very nice of you to wait for me, knucklehead!" Sonic commented as his usual joking demeanor resurfaced.

"I would have gone in myself if I could, and don't call me that."

"Alright, enough of this. I'm going to talk to those guys downstairs and we can get this damn thing solved," Fulton said as he walked over to the barrier facing World Way and the terminal entrance. "Don't think the reporters have spotted you here…yet."

"Me? Oh yeah, that was exactly what I intended. To not let them see me," Sonic explained.

"Clever. Anyway…" the sergeant leaned over the barrier to talk to the other sergeant. "Watts! He's here!" He informed loudly.

"Seriously? About time!" Watts shouted back.

"Sonic, you better get in position at the other terminal. Now," Knuckles said.

"Okay, I'll go over to that other car park place and jump over the street onto the terminal. We'll enter through the holes Robotnik made on the roofs. When we're both ready, I give hand signals, you give, uh, hair signals, and then we finally drop in and kick butt. All good?"

"That's…yeah, that'll work," Knuckles replied, wide-eyed at the surprisingly sound plan Sonic cooked up in such a short amount of time.

"Oh yeah, and after the robots are gone, we jump back up to the roofs. Tails will swoop down and take us both to the Doc's fortress."

Knuckles nodded. "Got it. Now move."

Without another word, the hedgehog jumped off the parking garage, dashed a short distance horizontally, and then vertically as he climbed onto the other in just a few seconds. As he ran on top of the skybridge that connected the parking garage to Terminal 3, Knuckles did the same with Terminal 2.

"Steady weapons!" Watts ordered both out loud and into his radio so that the forces outside Terminal 3 receive it as well. "Aim only, and only, at the robot's face! Nowhere else!" Their AR-15s had already been loaded to fire the ammo recommended by the FBI, which had some HRT guys next to them for support.

"Check the camera feed!" Watts continued. "When you see them inside trashing the bots, we open fire at the one at the door!"

"Copy that," the others said in acknowledgement.

"Jesus," the SWAT sergeant said quietly to himself, "I really hope they do what they say they can do."

On the roofs of Terminal 2 and 3, Sonic and Knuckles took their positions beside the large holes. They flattened themselves onto the roof and peered inside to see the exact locations of the robots without revealing themselves. Within moments, they already knew what and where to strike.

The two were able to see each other clearly despite the distance between them. First, they flashed each other a thumbs up. Sonic then held up his hand and showed the number three with it. Knuckles, whose boxing gloves covered up his fingers, simply held up three of his dreadlocks. As Sonic folded each finger, Knuckles let go of each dreadlock. Three, two, one…

And off they went. They both dropped in, and the instant they touched the ground, they did what they were good at in their own ways.

Sonic launched himself into a spin at the nearest bot, sawing it roughly into front and back halves, before immediately softening the edges of his quills to bounce off the curved wall towards another bot, during which he sharpened his quills again to cut through, this time diagonally. He kept this motion going this time to cut through another bot before bouncing off the wall again, repeating the whole procedure with the other bots. All while avoiding every shocked civilian present.

Knuckles also did the bouncing-off-the-walls routine, except he simply kept his fists extended in front of him nearly the whole time as he leapt through a bot, off a wall, through another bot, off a wall again, and so on.

"Now! Open fire!" In front of the two terminals, the SWAT and HRT officers all started shooting at the buggy-bot's supposed weak spot. Barrier-blind shots tore straight through the small, lightly armored front plate and into the weapon targeting and engine electronics. The saturation of bullets happened fast enough that the buggies never got to react, and they continued firing even after causing the minimum damage needed to shut it down.

Then to finish it off, both Sonic and Knuckles smashed through the carriers in the center of their respective rooms at the same time. Within just twenty seconds, it was all over. All of the robots were dealt with and everyone was safe.

All except one, as far as Sonic was concerned. He and Knuckles jumped back onto the roofs of the terminals once they confirmed there weren't any robots left that posed a threat. The Tornado had lowered itself onto the area between the two buildings just in time for the two to hop on. "All done, Tails! Let's go get him now!"

The plane already rose into the air even before Sonic started speaking before banking hard to the left, flying at full throttle towards the now vulnerable flying fortress. Below them, the now freed hostages were left wondering, both in confusion and relief, about what exactly just happened.

* * *

><p>Still aghast at how they'd somehow managed to avoid media detection before coming out of nowhere to destroy his robots so quickly as to overwhelm their reaction time protocols, Robotnik was furiously typing away at the computer system, hastily selecting what he wanted to salvage from this fortress after it had dawned on him that he, not the hostages, was the one whose deadline had come earlier, already tearing his door down. He berated himself for not having done this earlier, such as when the whole thing was still buried under the mountain.<p>

He was almost about to complete the process when it happened. "No! No! Not now!"

* * *

><p>"Sir, we just got confirmation! The hostages in the airport are safe!" the seaman reported to the commander of the <em>Wayne E. Meyer<em> after rushing into the bridge, having gotten the news off the radio.

"Really?" the commander asked, somewhat reflexively. He wasn't going to ask how, though, as he, like the commanders aboard the other destroyers at the moment, was thinking of something else entirely. Something they, and everyone else aboard had wanted to do for three hours, but only now did they finally get the chance.

He pressed a switch to communicate with the Combat Information Center. They were going to want to hear this. "This is Commander Hackett. You have clearance to fire. I repeat: you have clearance to fire, over."

"Hell yeah, resuming fire!" the operators in the CIC exclaimed as they prepared a huge volley of flying hell for the hated target. Just before pressing the last button, one of them defiantly added, "this is for the _Stockdale_, bitch!"

* * *

><p>"Uh, oh," Sonic remarked with concern as they saw the bright flashes coming from the ships below while the Tornado continued to approach the fortress. "Tails, we better hurry!"<p>

* * *

><p>The Aggressive Defense System was issuing a multiple missile launch alert, which would prove to be its last. Each destroyer was launching way too many surface-to-air missiles way too fast for the system to handle. It only managed to feebly intercept twenty or so before the other hundred exploded directly on the fortress' outer surface, some of them on the massive thrusters.<p>

Robotnik had only just finished typing and gotten up when the violent trembles shocked him, emotionally and literally. Had he planned this any better, he would already be seated properly, already ready to eject.

Since he wasn't, however, the jittering and shaking environment ended up causing him to fall over. The bridge wasn't really a spacious place for someone, especially a fat person like him, to lose his balance. The doctor hit his head against the edge of a table.

As Robotnik collapsed on the floor, he tried to draw as much as strength as possible from all of his stress, fear, frustration, and desire to not lose to Sonic to get back up, but it wasn't enough to overcome the pain and injury. As his consciousness slipped away, the last thing he could hear was the monotone computer warning that all occupants must follow emergency ejection procedures due to an imminent explosion caused by catastrophic engine damage.

* * *

><p>The missile impacts and engine explosions were large enough to affect the Tornado as well. Either that, Tails thought, or he'd been flying way too close to the fortress. Regardless, having seen the missiles approaching even before Sonic's warning, he had attempted to swerve away, choosing to go up. The Tornado fortunately managed to get far away enough to avoid the heat and debris, but not the shock waves, which meant the plane was still shaken roughly.<p>

Sonic was able to grip one of the vertical stabilizers tightly as it happened, but Knuckles wasn't, and he promptly fell over after losing his balance. "Knux!" the hedgehog called out as the echidna continued to yell while plunging into the ocean, albeit more out of surprise than fear.

The height difference between the water surface and the Tornado was smaller than the time went Sonic fell over just before being teleported to Earth, not to mention Tails had only just leveled the plane from the sharp upwards swing, so there was no way to catch Knuckles with the aircraft just in time. The echidna made a big splash as he hit the water.

"Tails, Knux just fell over!" Sonic said, realizing that the fox may not have noticed while he had been handling the plane.

"What?" Tails sounded surprised at first, but then understood immediately how it could have happened. He knew, however, that other priorities still came first. "Sonic, Knuckles can swim, so we can't worry about him now. You have to get to Robotnik," he reminded his friend as he slowed down and banked right, flying behind and above the now rapidly burning fortress. The fires engulfing the thrusters were especially large and fierce, and Tails would have been blinded by them if it weren't for the anti-bloom features in his night vision goggles.

"Um, okay, but how?"

Tails thought very quickly to look for an answer, and had an idea. He set the plane in hovering mode and brought it over to the fortress' starboard side where all the missiles just hit to survey the damage.

Looking properly at what the missiles just did, it seemed to him that the fortress wasn't so well-armored after all despite, or perhaps because of, its size. That meant there should be an opening somewhere. He squinted through his goggles to scan for one, and he got it.

What was probably one of the fortress' entrances was charred and blown wide open. It appeared reasonably close to the bridge too. "Sonic, you see that hole there? Looks like a door? Or used to be one?" Tails asked as he cautiously brought the plane closer.

"Yeah! I'm going-" Sonic was fully ready to jump inside, but a new thought stopped him. "Wait, are you coming?"

"I can't. Something's wrong with my autopilot. I'll go down to get Knuckles instead and come back here in a minute. Hurry, Sonic, the fortress is losing altitude!"

"Gotcha! I'm getting that Eggster outta here!" Sonic declared as he leapt off the plane straight into the hole, narrowly avoiding the incredibly hot edges around it.

"Be careful, too!" Tails added before rapidly taking the plane downwards to get Knuckles.

As Tails got as close to the water as he could, he took off his oxygen mask and pushed his goggles above his eyes before opening the canopy. "Knuckles!" he called out, "Where are you!"

"I'm here!" the echidna, who was keeping himself afloat with kicking motions, replied loudly so that he could be heard over the Tornado's loud engines. "Help me back up on the plane, will ya!"

Suddenly, however, it occurred to Tails that it could be impossible. The echidna certainly could swim, but even he couldn't jump out of water to a high enough height to get back aboard the Tornado. And of all the things Sonic and Tails' plane could do, landing on water wasn't one of them, since with his thrusters pointed downwards, he had to stay a sufficient minimum height above the water just to be safe.

But worst of all was that since the autopilot was damaged, Tails could not simply leave the plane hovering there by itself while he flew with his namesakes to pick Knuckles up. As he realized all of this, the fox felt a great apprehension that this could be a huge problem.

"Tails!" Knuckles called out. "Are you listening? What's wrong?"

Inside the now falling fortress, Sonic dodged various explosions and obstacles that randomly popped out of the walls, adding to the challenge of needing to navigate the maze of corridors and stairs to get to a place whose location he wasn't really sure of. Vision was also a problem thanks to the failing and flickering lights, and Sonic was actually forced to stay in one spot for half a second to read a directions sign properly. He jumped away just as he saw where the bridge was to avoid getting hit by a falling ceiling panel.

Sonic dashed up the stairs and finally entered the bridge. Looking around, he was surprised that it was still in good shape compared to the rest of the fortress' interior. Robotnik, however, clearly was not. The fat doctor was lying motionless on the floor, his head bleeding.

"Eggman!" Sonic exclaimed, actually sounding concerned for him. He quickly put his gloved hand onto the man's neck and was relieved to feel a pulse. Still alive, then, but…how to get him out of here? The hedgehog tried pulling Robotnik out by his legs, and was alarmed to find he couldn't move him much, if at all.

Feeling too rushed for once to make jokes about his weight, Sonic remembered there was only one person who could carry this guy. "Tails? How's Knuckles? Can you get him for me?" he asked, remembering his earpiece.

"I can't," a frustrated young voice replied, "the autopilot's busted, so I can't fly myself to get Knuckles otherwise the Tornado will fall into the water, and he can't jump out of the water high enough to get up here. Why do you need him?"

"Eggman's unconscious. I can't carry him! I think he might die here!"

Tails normally liked to be proven correct in his estimates, but not this time. The notion that they had come here for nothing…"Damn it!"

The fortress was already going to hit the water. Knuckles was already swimming away from ground zero as fast as possible, while Tails snapped out of his funk and hovered away as well. _What do we do?_ He couldn't help but wonder. _What do we do?_

Sonic was thinking of the same question as well, looking and hearing around for any solution at all. The latter was what finally turned something up. Other than the explosions and other noises, the hedgehog could hear a monotone computer voice being drowned out, and it was saying something very important.

"Warning: severe engine damage. Explosion imminent. Please activate bridge ejection sequence and seat yourself immediately. Warning: severe engine damage…"

The voice was coming from a computer terminal just in front of Robotnik, or would be if he were standing up, next to the door. Sonic got up to it and saw that the screen was showing what appeared to be an emergency ejection sequence for the bridge itself, ready to activate. The only step left was to actually press the 'return' key for confirmation.

The fortress shook heavily again as it finally crashed into the sea. Even if the explosions did not get them, the water certainly would. Sonic took one last look at the unconscious mad scientist. If this was really the only way to save him…he made his decision.

Hitting the return key, the screen then showed a countdown, saying it would take thirty seconds for the bridge's own engines to be ready. Sonic noticed the door was closing and zoomed through it in a panic before it sealed up. He went down the stairs to see water already seeping in, slowly flooding the corridors.

"Tails? I found a way to save Eggman. I'll explain later. For now, come over to the door and ask Knuckles to swim there too. I'll pick him up and we'll both get onboard," he said as he madly rushed through the maze, thankfully remembering where to go exactly. He was _not_ going to drown or get blown up here.

"Um, alright, Sonic," Tails replied, sounding rather bewildered, but he knew there was no time for questions. "Knuckles, you've gotta swim back to the fortress, to the hole where Sonic's coming out," he said loudly to the echidna.

"What?" Knuckles replied even more loudly, the shock evident in his voice. "You crazy? Isn't that whole thing going to explode?"

"That's why you have to go there. You won't be able to escape the explosion by swimming. You can climb onto the hole Sonic entered and then jump onto the Tornado like him. Hurry!"

Understanding the reasoning, Knuckles barely nodded before swimming freestyle towards than the sinking fortress rather than away from it. Tails brought the Tornado over to the entrance to show the echidna where to go, as well as to wait for Sonic.

The explosions around the fortress' thrusters, far from being stopped by the water, were actually happening with greater frequency now. The Big One was undoubtedly coming soon. Time was running out.

And fortunately so was Sonic, who appeared at the entrance just as its bottom edge touched the water, which Knuckles also reached at the same time. Sonic grabbed the echidna's fist as he leapt onto the Tornado, and Tails pushed the thrust lever all the way to the front, making the plane move forwards, which was much faster, rather than upwards. Sonic was barely able to hold onto the vertical stabilizer in time as he pulled Knuckles up.

Thirty seconds after pressing that key, there was a massive flash and loud boom as the fortress disappeared into a huge fireball, causing Sonic and Knuckles to shield their eyes. There was another shock wave, which in turn led to big water waves, though fortunately the Tornado was now far away enough from either. The US Navy ships were likely to be hit by the latter, though their crews were smart enough to keep their distance, so the waves should have diminished by the time they reached them.

When the explosion settled, Sonic took another look at where the fortress was, or, rather, had been. All that was left of the behemoth were large chunks of burning scrap metal sinking into the Pacific. He sighed loudly, not really sure what to feel. He comforted himself by saying even if Robotnik's corpse was really among that wreckage, he had still at least tried his best to save him.

"So, is he dead?" Knuckles asked, breaking the silence, at least relatively speaking, since the Tornado's engine noises were rather overwhelming. He didn't ask very loudly, but Sonic could hear him properly nonetheless.

"I…I really don't know."

"I'm betting he isn't. We've all seen what he's been able to survive all these years. Wish he was, though, just so I never, ever, have to put up with this crap happening to me and the Emeralds ever again," Knuckles added bitterly.

"I was just always hoping we could do that without needing to kill him," Sonic added, his voice having little emotion. He was still staring blankly at the wreckage in the sea.

"I understand, Sonic, but at what cost? Is it really worth it? What he was back then was what he was back then. Now he's just a dangerous madman. He's caused me, you, Tails and everyone on Mobius problems, and if he's still alive he will cause problems for everyone on this planet too. You really should think about others once in a while, Sonic." Knuckles took a deep breath to calm down before continuing in a less harsh voice. "Anyway, could you take me back to Angel Island?"

* * *

><p>Tails landed the Tornado right in front of the emerald altar on Angel Island. The Marine twin-bladed helicopters were still hovering above it, though they did not take any other actions. Tails was observing and studying the helicopters curiously from where he stood on the stairs, and knew that the crews were doing the same to them.<p>

Meanwhile, Knuckles walked around the Master Emerald and the seven Chaos Emeralds, feeling glad that they were all here and intact.

Unfortunately, that was the only good news. Leaning against the Master Emerald, he closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Knux, what's wrong?" Sonic, who stood next to him, asked.

"I…I think we're going to be here for a while. On this planet, I mean. At least until the Emeralds recharge completely and are ready again for a teleportation like that." His voice was heavy and full of dread.

"How long would that take?" Sonic said, and begin feeling rather worried about what kind of answer he would get. Tails also came up the stairs, having heard the question being asked, which was more important than the helicopters.

Knuckles was silent for a moment before finally replying. "Could be four or five years, Sonic."

Both Sonic and Tails froze completely after hearing that. The fox was able to recover first, though. "But I thou-I…I guess it's not that surprising," he said unhappily with a sigh. "The Master Emerald had to unleash pretty much all of its energy when it was hit by Robotnik's vaporizer and got massively overloaded, which is what caused the teleportation. I understand…doesn't mean it's not disappointing though," he finished as he looked down at the floor, ears drooping.

"See what I mean, Sonic? Thinking about others?" Knuckles couldn't help but add as he folded his arms. "What exactly are we going to do now?"

Sonic took some time to think about their present situation, and made his decision. "You know, I think we could go back down there, actually."

"Seriously? You think they'll let you live with them just like that?" Knuckles asked with a scoff.

"Sure. They're not all bad. I've met some, trust me, and remember that we did just save a whole bunch of them from those bots. I'd think we'd be at least somewhat welcome among them because of that. Besides, staying around on this island is gonna bore me to death, no offense to you, Knux. We've got a whole new world to explore down there. I think it'd be fun. What d'you say, bud?" he asked Tails after finishing.

"Hmm," the fox contemplated it for a moment, and answered, "that idea's not too bad…I guess." The only problem left for him, of course, was that he had found it hard enough to talk to mobians back home. How was he going to do the same with all the humans here?

"If you're worried how they'll think of you, I don't think you have to be. Just stick with me, make some friends, should be okay."

Tails nodded. "Sure thing, Sonic."

"If you don't want to be here, where exactly are you going to stay?"

"I'm pretty sure Alan's place should work. We still need to find him anyway."

"Okay. And what if Robotnik comes back?" Knuckles said as a reminder. "You know that just might happen."

"We'll be ready for him. Simple as that," Sonic replied in a determined manner.

Knuckles said nothing again for about half a minute, eyes closed as he took everything Sonic said into consideration. After he opened them, he said, "fine. You do that. I'm going to move this island out over the ocean where no one will bother me. If Robotnik does come back, he's your problem, alright? I'd like you to not make it my problem as well. If you fight him again, just keep in mind what I said."

"I will," Sonic replied as he turned to walk down the stairs with Tails towards the Tornado. "Believe me, I will." They walked a short distance before the hedgehog turned around again. "Thanks for helping me out just now. We owe you too."

"Sure. Just please don't owe the whole world over Robotnik, okay?" Knuckles reminded. "The only reason mobians have never thought about this so much is because they barely even have contact with their own neighbors. I should know, I'm like that. But with all the media focus this planet seems to have, don't expect it to happen the exact same way here."

Sonic looked at Knuckles in what seemed like an amused or curious way. "You know, you're sounding kinda like Alan now."

"What?" The echidna was confused.

"He's been telling me things sort of like that while he was with us," Sonic admitted, "in fact he pretty much, uh, woke us up how we found out Eggman was planning to blow up Angel Island."

"Wait a minute," Knuckles said, now feeling suspicious at hearing this news. "So you're saying if it weren't for Alan, I and Angel Island would have been zapped into dust while both of you were sleeping?"

Neither Sonic nor Tails said a word in response as they simply stared at the echidna. It was true, wasn't it?

He shook his head in clear disapproval. "Sonic, that's…you know what, I don't even know what to say about that. Just…" he cringed as he tried to think of how to continue. "Get out of here. Think about what could have happened. And what could happen again. I beg you, okay?"

"Got it, Knux," Sonic said as he walked down the steps with Tails beside him. He didn't expect to be ending this situation in such low spirits, with something so heavy to think about. "Let's get out of here, Tails."

"Where to, though?"

"The airport, I guess. Figure they'd want to see us," Sonic pointed out. "See you, Knux."

"Yeah, bye," Knuckles said gruffly as he sat atop the stairs as if he was glad to see them go.

"He's got a point, Sonic," Tails said as they both got aboard the Tornado. "If it weren't for Alan, we'd have woken up to find all the Emeralds in Robotnik's hands and Knuckles dead." He didn't say any more than that, nor did he have to.

"I know," Sonic replied, sounding both relieved and regretful. "It's just...I can't bring myself to, you know, go that route. If there's another way, I'll always take it. That's what Alan also said he does, remember?"

"True," the fox concurred as he started up the engines.

"Anyway," Sonic continued in a slightly more relaxed tone, "the important thing for now is that we did save the day. Let's cheer up a bit. Wouldn't want to greet the crowd with long faces, would we?"


	14. Chapter 13: Settling Down, part I

**Chapter 13: Settling Down, part I**

"You said you found a way to save Robotnik. What was it?" Tails asked, flying the Tornado not at full speed but rather at a much more leisurely pace, for once.

Sonic was also doing something that would have seemed usual to most people but not to Tails – actually sitting in the plane's backseat. "I found him unconscious in the bridge, but it looked he was preparing to eject from the place, as in, the whole bridge itself, before he fell down and hit his head. The computer already showed it was ready, so I pressed the button and got out of there," he answered matter-of-factly, and then he shook his head. "No idea if it worked though, at least in time."

"Huh, I see," Tails commented. The airport was already in view, lit up by large numbers of white lights. "I wonder what Knuckles would have said if you told him that you actually saved him."

"Well, I don't know if I really did save him, and Knux was miffed enough back there," Sonic said, barely able to suppress a chuckle, but then he got serious. "But yeah, I guess he wouldn't be too happy about it."

"What about Alan?" Tails asked as well.

"I think we both know the answer to that after how he, um, reacted."

"Yeah," the fox agreed as he looked for a proper location on the vast, grey space to put the aircraft down. Although he and Sonic hardly ever went to airports, he was rather sure a large, public one like this was unlikely to support fighter jets, but there weren't really any alternatives now. "Then…what about the world, Sonic?"

Sonic appeared distinctly uncomfortable at that question. "What do you mean exactly?"

"It's like this. At least in Old Mobius, most of the people who ever had their lives affected by Robotnik never really said much about it, or anything else, with other communities beyond a certain distance. A lot of communication gaps, you know?" Tails turned to briefly look at Sonic, a worried expression on his face. "But I used their internet earlier, Sonic. I was in a hurry, of course, but their media…it looks like it covers pretty much the whole Earth, even the poorest areas. Basically, it's like all of Earth is New Mobius, and I think I know now why Alan found Old Mobius so strange. Anything Robotnik does here, the whole world will know sooner or later.

"Basically…" he paused for a while to let the reality of the situation fully sink in, "we can't just keep up a war of attrition between him and us here like back home. We have to really, actually catch him. Otherwise it'll affect a lot of people's lives, they'll all know about it, and it's make a lot of them scared or distrustful. Of us. Just imagine all humans reacting like Alan."

"Hmm," Sonic grunted as he comprehended his friend's deduction. He had always been confident in his and Tails' own abilities to stop Robotnik before he could do any major damage. Their track record of stopping his plans had been pretty good so far. Not perfect, of course, since they wished the death toll of his actions remained at zero, but they nevertheless had managed to keep that number impressively low considering the sheer number of Robotnik's attacks.

Unfortunately, they'd never really managed to find a way to stop him permanently without killing him. The doctor would simply come back after a hiatus, no matter how long or short it was. Sonic remembered that this was due to, of course, the sheer number of underground bases with spare robots which Robotnik had acquired for himself. That was when the hedgehog realized it.

"You're right, Tails," Sonic spoke up in acknowledgement, but added more confidently, "but I think that'd be much easier here. Unless Robotnik has a lot of secret robot bases on Earth here as well, I can't see how much he can really do now. That's the main strength he's always had, and here, he doesn't have it. Not anymore, at least," he finished, remembering the fiery defeat of the fortress earlier.

Tails had decided to choose a spot somewhere near one of the terminals that had been held hostage earlier and already deployed the plane's landing gear. "Good point. Kinda encouraging, I guess," he said somewhat hopefully, but it was quickly replaced by worry as he continued, "it's just…this is Robotnik. You never know what he might just do or when he'll come back."

"Where do you think he could go now, realistically speaking?" Sonic asked.

The Tornado had gently touched down on the ground just a ways from Terminal 2, on an area where it would hopefully not obstruct other planes. "I'd need to check the map of the area, but my guess is the bridge may have propelled itself towards the nearest landmass it can detect. At least, that's how I would design it. If that's the case, he should be found by some locals sooner or later. Unless he ends up on an uninhabited island, or something."

"Then I guess we don't need to worry about it so much," Sonic commented, sounding a lot more relaxed now, and was now smiling.

"Maybe, but it's just my conjecture. You never know. Sonic," Tails said as he shut off the engines and took off his goggles, "we have to be prepared for anything that could happen, and we need to get the world to do the same. It's only responsible."

"We'll do that," Sonic said, nodding. Then, looking over the area just as the canopy popped open, he noticed several flashing police car lights coming in from the distance. "Looks like they're coming," he pointed out.

"Yeah," Tails said, unable to keep the apprehension from flowing into his voice.

"Don't worry. Just stick by me. I can do most of the talking," Sonic assured before hopping onto the ground.

"Um, okay," the small fox said, gulping slowly as he followed the hedgehog. He silently scolded himself for being so dependent on Sonic for this kind of thing, and so timid, but there wasn't much he could do about it now as the approaching police cars and trucks stopped a distance away from the plane. It would at least be slightly better if he wasn't still covered up in black muck, which he really hoped could still be washed away.

"Alright," Sonic declared as Tails walked up next to him, "here goes nothing."

Several police officers stepped out of the cars and trucks before pointing their guns at the duo. It surprised them at first, but then remembered that they both had appeared here from out of nowhere, even if it was to save the hostages. It made sense for the police to find it suspicious.

"Both of you, stay where you are!" one of them ordered through a loudspeaker. "Raise your hands above your head and get down on your knees, or we will open fire," he warned.

Sonic and Tails knew that they could easily dodge the gunfire at this distance in such an open area, but were also aware of how counterproductive that would be to their image. Both of them complied with the police's orders. They had to make a good first impression, though Sonic felt that their rescue of the hostages already should have counted as exactly that. _Okay, fine, good _second_ impression_.

Several tall men dressed in armor and gear similar to what Alan had approached the hedgehog and fox, aiming their submachine guns at them. The tactical flashlights attached to the weapons momentarily blinded them as they shone into their eyes.

When they could see properly again, Sonic noticed that their uniforms were in fact exactly the same as Alan's, right down to the three large letters on their vests: FBI.

"You," one of the agents called out as the others surrounded them, addressing Sonic, "is your name Sonic the Hedgehog?"

Both of them froze completely at how these agents had learned about their names before they even got to speak. "Uh, um, yeah, I'm Sonic," he replied, sounding confused rather than confident, which was how he intended to introduce himself. He reminded himself that he could still do that later in front of the public.

"And you," the same agent said as he pointed his weapon at Tails, "you are Miles Prower, also called Tails?"

The wide-eyed fox gulped before answering. "Y-yeah, that's-that's me," he stuttered.

"You've both met Special Agent Alan Doherty, is that correct?" he asked further, his voice clear, serious and no-nonsense, actually quite like Doherty's.

"Uh, yeah, we know him," Sonic answered, still wondering how they could have known about all this.

"He contacted us regarding you. You are to come along with us to the field office and wait there until Doherty returns from Venezuela," the agent elaborated.

With that mystery cleared up, Sonic thought about what the agent just said. It didn't sound like a proposition or offer they could simply turn down. Certainly they were going to be asked many questions about themselves and their earlier actions, which didn't seem like an appealing prospect.

On the other hand, it was a fixed, proper spot in which they could stay and wait for Alan, at least temporarily, which was better than running around and hiding from everyone, including the authorities. That was even less appealing. Not to mention it was only fair to explain as much as they could about everything that had happened…except for possibly the part about saving Robotnik. "Okay, we'll come with you," Sonic agreed.

"Wait, wait," Tails spoke up nervously. "What about the Tornado? I-I mean, my plane? Do I just leave it here?"

"Yes, at least for now. There'll be a few men placed around it to make sure it stays there."

"I'd like your word that your men or others don't touch it, otherwise we won't follow," Sonic said, daring to sound a bit demanding.

"You have it," the agent simply replied. Sonic and Tails looked a lot more relieved after hearing his answer. He stepped back a bit before looking away. "Get up. The van's this way."

"We're gonna sit in a car there?" Sonic asked incredulously.

"Yes we are. We know where the building is, do you?" he asked.

That left Sonic quiet for a brief moment. "Touché," he said as he and Tails got back up on their feet. "Although, could I ask for one more thing?"

"What is it?" the agent asked impatiently.

"Is there, uh, a place where my friend can wash up?" Tails glanced at Sonic as soon as he asked that, half in surprise, the other in gratitude.

* * *

><p>Neither of them had ever been in a car or van, though Tails had fixed a few before. No one spoke a word throughout the entire ride, which Sonic silently endured. It made him feel a little indignant, but he did his best not to show it. He decided that it wouldn't have been so bad except for the fact that it ended up lasting an hour due to the traffic.<p>

When the vehicle's doors finally opened up, Sonic was more than glad. It was so boring being stuck in something that moved way slower than he did for so long, not to mention full of people that were suspicious of him and his friend. Tails, for his part, had avoided all eye contact with all of the other agents present, looking at either the floor or Sonic, who had to give him a reassuring glance every now and then.

"Alright, let's move," a man outside said loudly, and Sonic wasted no time obliging as he stepped out of the van, Tails beside him.

They saw that they were brought before a large, blocky building full of windows. The agents ushered them in through a double door entrance leading to the parking lot. Before they entered, they could see various camera flashes coming from both sides. The media was definitely going crazy over this now.

Inside the entrance, Sonic and Tails were gestured to walk through a metal archway of some sort, and they did so. As Sonic walked through, the machine emitted a buzzing sound, causing the man standing beside it to walk up in front of them, crossing his arms.

Both of them stood there looking confused for a moment until it finally hit Tails. "Oh, I got it," he said, reaching into Sonic's ear and taking out the earpiece there, and then unstrapping the wrist device he hid under his left glove. After putting the earpiece into its slot on the device, he handed both out to the man standing next to what he now recognized as a metal detector. He examined them for a while before nodding, and motioned for the two to walk through the detector again. It did not sound again as they did it.

"What does this thing do?" the man asked.

"Uh…" Tails needed a while to come up with answer. Somehow it never occurred to him to actually name the device, at least with something descriptive. "It's my…wristwatch computer. Data storage, calculator, communicator, clock, mapping system, camera, audio and video recorder…" He trailed off.

"You made this?"

"Uh, yeah," he replied, sounding more hesitant rather than proud, as one would have expected.

"Interesting," the man simply commented. "I'm going to have to hold onto this for a while. You can get it back on your way out."

"What? Aw, come on!" Sonic cut in. "That's not fair, why-"

"Sonic, it's okay," Tails quickly spoke up before Sonic could carry his objection further and possibly cause trouble. "I understand, uh, sir," he said to the guard politely.

"Good. Just hold one moment," the man said in relief as he opened up and reached into a desk drawer behind him. His hand brought out two clip-on ID tags that would mark Sonic and Tails as visitors here. He looked at the duo and paused for a moment, having just realized they did not wear shirts that the tags could be clipped onto. A few seconds later, he decided to simply clip them onto their torso fur. It was thick enough so that the clippings did not pinch their flesh, though it still caused them to briefly give awkward looks. "Alright, move on."

Sonic and Tails were escorted through a large working hall full of computers, TV screens and cubicles. All of the people working there abruptly stopped as they stared at the new guests, which caused the fox to be visibly unsettled. A news channel on one of the wall TVs showed the same building that they were in now, and the reporter seemed to be trying not to make speculations.

They were first escorted into the men's bathroom where Tails could wash himself. There were no showers, of course, though the fox was short enough that the wall faucet was a good enough substitute, as he could just sit underneath it. He never imagined that would be a reason to not become too tall. After rinsing for a while, Tails' body, gloves and shoes were mostly clean again and thankfully no longer smelled, though he would still need a real shower later. The agents were helpful enough to get him a towel from somewhere, all without any comments. At least not in front of them.

"Wow, you've no idea how long I've been waiting for that," Tails said to Sonic with great relief in his voice.

"Yeah, must have really stunk. No pun intended," the hedgehog answered with a smirk. "Thanks a lot," he said to the men waiting outside, one of whom simply nodded in response.

After leaving the bathroom and going up a nearby flight of stairs to the balcony that overlooked the area, the agents ushered them through a glass door into an office. _The_ office, in fact. "They're right here, sir," one of the men said.

Behind the wooden desk at the far end of the room, a man in a suit was hurrying to finish up his phone call. "Yes, sir, you have my word. Anyway, they're here. I'll tell you how it goes later." After putting his cell phone into his side pocket, he got up from his leather seat. "Thank you, gentlemen. Now, if you may…"

The agents got the message and closed the door without another word. The new stranger got around from behind the desk and walked up to the visitors, who were new not only to this building, but to this planet as well. "Hello and welcome to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. And Earth," the wrinkled and grey-haired gentleman said warmly. "Special Agent in Charge Daniel McLaughlin. I'm Agent Doherty's superior." He held out a similarly wrinkled hand at the hedgehog.

Sonic wasn't expecting such a welcome after the rather detached treatment he got from the others, so he just stood there motionless until his manners kicked in."Oh, uh, hey!" he quickly said with a grin as he shook the man's hand. "Sonic the Hedgehog! And, uh…darn, I need to think of a good intro motto sometime…I run fast!"

"Well, I guess that we all saw," McLaughlin simply commented, ignoring Sonic's awkwardness. He turned to Tails. "And you, son?" Though they weren't humans, the SAIC could tell this one was rather young, even younger than Sonic, who himself seemed an adolescent at most.

The small fox hesitated at first as he glanced upwards at the six-foot-tall man's eyes, before reaching his own hand out. "Hi. I'm Miles Prower, though my friends call me Tails," he said, giving out his usual prepared self-introduction, even though it was hardly ever actually used. He suspected that would very likely change while he was on this planet.

"Nice to meet both of you," McLaughlin said in return after shaking the youngster's hand. "Please have a seat," he added, gesturing to the blue couch against the wall. The two promptly sat down on, or rather, climbed onto it before sitting.

"So, uh, I guess you're the one who wanted us to be brought here?" Sonic decided to ask as way of starting a conversation.

"Yes. In a way," he replied, sitting down on another couch opposite theirs. "Though I would say it was more of Doherty's idea."

"Oh?"

"He called me a few times earlier to suggest it, and then I had to make a few more calls after that…it's complicated. But you're here now, and I hope you're fine with that."

"We're good, don't worry," Sonic assured, "gives us a place to wait, at least. Though I wonder where Alan is."

"His plane should be arriving within forty-five minutes. Then if the traffic clears up, another fifteen to come here…" he guessed out loud. "Though I'm guessing he won't be touching down at LAX," he added, annoyance creeping into his voice.

"Oh yeah, could I ask how're things there?" Sonic quickly asked, having been reminded of the whole ordeal, which naturally made him concerned.

"The hostages are shaken, but no one was hurt," he answered, now sounding relieved. "Ah, my manners and I…thank you very, very much for that. Both of you, and your, um, red friend."

"No problems. We'd do it all over again," Sonic casually said with a grin and thumbs up, while Tails next to him was smiling as well. "Well, not so sure about Knuckles, but we two? Definitely."

"Glad to hear that." McLaughlin paused for a moment to cough, and then continued, in a highly curious tone, "who _was_ that man who did all that anyway?"

Sonic's expression suddenly became serious as his smile faded, as did Tails'. "Doctor Ivo Robotnik," he answered straight. "Mad scientist genius. He comes from this planet, you know. And he's got some serious engineering skills. Someone like that must have been…I don't know, famous? You sure you don't know him?"

"No," the elderly man said. "I've had my people run an identity search the moment he gave his broadcast. We couldn't find anyone that matched."

They blinked at the answer. "Wow, now that's weird," Sonic remarked.

"If you could tell us more about him, we should be able to track down who he is. Or was, rather. Perhaps we could start with…hmm, how he came to your planet in the first place."

"It was because of the Chaos Emeralds," Sonic immediately responded. "According to Alan there had been this mysterious green gemstone that had been on your planet for thirty years or so, right? You saw those things on Angel, I mean, the floating island?"

McLaughlin remembered seeing the video feed from the Marine helicopters of the place and realizing how familiar the glowing gemstones on the stone structure looked. He nodded. "Indeed, yes."

"Yeah, that's the one. He must have been a scientist working on it in, I dunno, some secret area?"

"Area 51!" Tails suddenly blurted out. "Robotnik mentioned that that's the place he worked in. Remember, Sonic?"

"Oh, yeah, now I do. Good one, bro."

"Makes sense," the SAIC observed. "Even we don't we get to probe that place or the people that work there, despite what conspiracy theorists believe." He let out a sigh of relief at having made a bit of progress, though it was followed by a frown. "But this doesn't explain his actions. He seemed obsessed with having those things, but only so that he could do something else with them."

Oh boy. Here was the hard part. Sonic had to remind himself that admitting it, at least to a certain extent, was the responsible thing to do. He closed his eyes briefly before opening them and replying. "Long story short, some people back on my planet…they weren't so nice to him when he arrived. They drove him crazy and put him in a position of power. I've been fighting his robots and world-conquering schemes for ten years now." He realized he actually felt some relief as he finished explaining.

"I see. Very well," McLaughlin simply said, "and I suppose those gemstones enable him to do so?"

They both simply nodded. "Those things are really powerful. Robotnik knows it, but fortunately so does my pal Tails here. Knuckles too, actually, but since he's not here…" he shrugged as he faced his friend while the fox rubbed the back of his head with his hand, looking a bit sheepish.

"Um, put it this way," Tails began, "it's what causes the floating island you guys saw to, well, float. And what made Robotnik's flying fortress earlier so dangerous. And my plane to fly that far and fast."

McLaughlin became rather wide-eyed at the answers. "So you and Robotnik are able to do with those gemstones what our best scientists could not for thirty years?"

Tails couldn't help but smile, albeit more out of humor rather than pride. "Heh, that's almost exactly what Alan said when I told him about this."

"Of course," the SAIC said, hitting his palm with his fist, having just realized it. "What happened to Doherty three days ago happened to Robotnik. That must be it." He settled down properly in his leather chair before continuing. "Speaking of him, that's the next thing I'd like to discuss. The nature of your relationship with Alan Doherty so far."

"Sure."

"How did you meet him?"

"I'm the one who met him first. I saw him lost in the woods while out on a run, and was really wary of him at first, of course, the reason whould be obvious, but then I realized the way he acted didn't seem like Robotnik at all. He almost got killed by some villagers just because he wanted to nicely ask them questions, so I saved him and brought him to Tails' house where he got to stay."

"Interesting," the SAIC remarked before doing a double take. "Wait, you have a house? Your own house?" he asked Tails incredulously.

"Y…yeah, I do," the fox admitted. "Sonic and I help take care of it." Now that he thought of it, he really hoped nobody would break into the place while they were away, though if the advanced keypad door lock didn't stop people, the fact that the residence belonged to _them_ probably should.

"Very well. Did he do anything during his time with you?"

"He helped us stop one of Robotnik's plans. Went into one of his hidden bases and spied for us. Actually, he kinda helped to do it again too, which is why we all ended up on Earth. He'd been looking for a way to come back, though I guess this wasn't really how he imagined it," Sonic said, suppressing a chuckle.

"Did you talk to him a lot, and vice versa?"

"Yep. About what we do, what he does…I think he's a really interesting guy. I've never met anyone like him. At least, you know, he helped us not to think all humans are like Eggman, er, Robotnik."

"Understood," McLaughlin acknowledged, "although, that reminds me. What were you both and Knuckles doing when you flew your plane towards the fortress earlier?"

Any relaxed expressions Sonic and Tails had quickly vanished when the question was asked. "We…we wanted to get Robotnik. Alive," Sonic managed to say. It was true, after all.

"I guess you failed?" McLaughlin's tone wasn't accusatory, just honestly curious, with perhaps a hint of disappointment.

"Well, yeah, obviously," Sonic slowly answered with a sigh. "Though less obvious is whether or not he survived. I honestly don't know."

"He managed to escape before the whole thing exploded?"

"Like I said, I don't know," the hedgehog repeated. "But if he did, we'll find him and deal with him again. It's what we've always done, and what we can do again," he declared confidently. "And to be honest, the Chaos Emeralds kinda wore themselves out, and, uh, we're actually going to be staying on this planet for a while. A few years, until they recharge. It's best if you could get people to search the ocean, or any nearby coasts, 'cause if he's alive, he has to be there."

Special Agent in Charge Daniel McLaughlin took a moment to carefully consider Sonic's words. After that, he made his decision. "I believe you," he said before letting out a short cough. "At least for now. I'll inform the other relevant departments of your…suggestion."


	15. Chapter 13: Settling Down, part II

**Chapter 13: Settling Down, part II**

Sonic and Tails spent the next thirty minutes in the SAIC's office on the couch following the conversation. At some point during that time, the fox fell asleep on the hedgehog's shoulder. He was now snoring peacefully as he held onto his twin tails brought about in front of him like a bolster. Sonic simply smiled wordlessly through it all. Meanwhile, McLaughlin was back at his desk typing something, presumably a report of his rather interesting meeting, at his computer, deep in concentration.

The SAIC's cell phone buzzed, and he quickly picked it up to look at the received message. It made him stand up. "Finally."

"What's that? Alan's here?" Sonic inquired. At the same time, Tails started to awaken groggily.

"Yes. He's just arrived, headed up here now."

"Wonder if he'll be surprised to see us here," Sonic thought out loud.

"I think that's unlikely."

Another minute passed before the glass door swung open and a very familiar face came through. "Sorry I'm late, sir," Special Agent Alan Doherty said to his boss before facing the mobian duo. "And nice to see you again too."

"Hey, Alan!" both of them greeted before getting off the couch and walking up excitedly to the weary-looking Doherty, who had taken off most of his gear except for the pistol holster. "You alright?"

"I'm fine now, thanks," Alan answered, "though if I ever go past the speed of sound again, it better be under more controlled circumstances."

Tails looked at him apologetically. "I'm really sorry about that, it's just…it was necessary."

Deep down, Alan wasn't really sure that was true, though he didn't want to bring it up now, at least not with them. "I understand. Anyway, I guess you've met my boss, and I need him to debrief me. I can't talk to you both now." _Though I do have to talk _about_ you_. "So yeah, you'll have to excuse us."

"Eh, okay," Sonic replied in understanding, "how long will it take, though?"

"Hopefully not long. Ryan?" he called out to an agent outside the door.

"Yeah? Glad to see you back here, by the way."

"Me too. But right now, I need you to escort Sonic and Tails to the waiting room downstairs. Give them something to read or drink."

"Got it," the blond man acknowledged with a nod. "This way, please," he said to the visitors, who walked towards the door to follow.

Before leaving the room, Sonic turned to Alan a last time. "Glad you're okay, by the way."

"Likewise. See you in a few minutes," he said before the door closed.

"So, Alan, good to have you back," McLaughlin said with a wry smile.

"I'm thankful, sir, but I've just heard that about a dozen times," Alan responded, also smiling, as he took a seat in front of the SAIC's desk.

"I can imagine," he said with a chuckle as he got back onto his leather chair. The smile faded as the time to talk business came. "Anyway, you know why you're here."

"Yes, sir, I do," Doherty replied, also sounding serious now. "Before anything else, I want to know about what happened in the warehouse that day. After I…left, that is."

"Our boys survived, thankfully, and so did the guy you managed to subdue. Couldn't get much out of him other than angry rambling, though. He's currently awaiting deportation."

"Lucky bastard," Alan said with a frown, "as if Adabat's prisons have done so well holding ARA members in."

"A shame indeed," McLaughlin agreed, "but let's talk about more, shall we say, immediate matters."

"Sonic." Upon mentioning the name, Doherty frowned again. "Right, so what did you ask him?"

McLaughlin took out his cell phone, pressed a few keys, and played the conversation it had recorded earlier to Alan. After it finished, the special agent crossed his arms. The emotion on his face was hard to decipher. Indifference? Annoyance?

"I guess it's time for my side of the story," he said, his voice just as emotionless as his expression.

"How did it begin?"

"What he said there was pretty much true. He saved my life. They let me live at their place."

"What about this Robotnik, then?"

Doherty paused. "Yeah, I encountered him, all right. Turned out they'd been having trouble with him for ten years, like Sonic said. I guess I felt like doing something to help in return, and because Robotnik had recently stolen some of the Emeralds, and I needed all of them to come back here. But that's not all, sir." He cleared his throat. "It's also, well, it's certainly worth investigating, right? A human from our world stuck on another without any of us knowing? And being a dangerous madman there throughout the whole time? I couldn't just ignore that."

"Good point," McLaughlin said, nodding. "How exactly did you go undercover with him?"

"First step was to scrape off the FBI lettering off my outfit. Then I was sent to a location where one of Robotnik's underground bases was suspected to be hidden, in a remote grassy area. Convinced him in front of one of his robots that I was a mercenary being pursued by Sonic as a victim, so it led me into his place. Pretty much bought the whole hook, line and sinker, and in retrospect I'm damn glad he didn't check me for identification," he reported flatly.

"What did you find out in there?"

Doherty shook his head. "Bad mojo, sir. He'd been keeping a whole group of mobians, that's what they're called, as slave laborers to build his robots. His plan was to force most of their population into the same position. I learned as much as I could about the guy, including how he planned on using some doomsday weapon, the same one that blew up the _Stockdale_, before signaling Sonic and Tails to come in and trash the whole place and save the prisoners."

"You got to talk to him, then? What did you learn about the man himself?"

"I found out that he…" Alan stopped to think for the shortest way to put it. "…that he'd lost it. Simple as that. The thing is, he's smart enough to know how those emeralds work. He could have chosen to just teleport himself back here anytime after escaping them," he continued before sighing heavily. "He didn't."

"Hmm. Then how did you intend to deal with him?"

"I planned on leaving him to Sonic and the authorities."

"You never considered bringing him back here with you?" McLaughlin asked with a raised eyebrow.

Doherty froze. Somehow that consideration never came to him, Sonic, Tails or Knuckles. However, he was able to immediately come up with reasons why it may not have been a good idea. "I never considered it, sir. Even if I brought him back, there'd be absolutely nothing we could charge him with, not with crimes he committed on a different planet that none of us even knew existed. And I learned just how far over the edge he'd gotten while with him. If he came back here, he'd just be let loose before disappearing, and I can bet he'd use his genius skills not for the good of others." As he finished, he realized that there was no proof of Robotnik's death earlier, and that that was probably no longer hypothetical. _Goddammit_.

"Then how did it come to this? You and your new friends were supposed to have brought him down, right?"

"That's how it was supposed to be, yes," Alan confirmed, sounding regretful. "But then we learned that none of the authorities anywhere would take him in because his robot reinforcements would come in and break him out of prison, which had happened many times before I arrived, killing large numbers of people in the process. And there was no way Robotnik would tell us where all his secret bases were. He was at our mercy, though, so I opted for a more…" he took his Smith and Wesson out of his holster and placed it on the desk, "…permanent solution. Or rather, I wanted to. But I was stopped," he added with a tinge of exasperation.

"What?" McLaughlin looked confused. "Who?"

The agent's eyes narrowed. "Who do you think? I'm giving my side of the story, remember?"

The SAIC's eyes did the opposite by widening. "But then…why?"

"Turned out that there had been things they didn't tell me, that would remain secret even after I'd supposedly left. But since the plan got shot to hell, it all came out. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they're evil or insincere. On the contrary, it's the opposite problem. Basically…Sonic tries to save the world. Tries to save everyone. Including the bad guy."

McLaughlin leaned in closer. "Go on."

"Sonic actually knew about the abuse Robotnik had been suffering at the hands of his fellow mobians and wanted to save him, but his own adopted parents were among the bullies, and he was very young then. No one knew about his super speed at the time, and he didn't want to become an orphan again because he was different, like Robotnik. So he buried it, until a year later, when Robotnik came back with a vengeance and bombed his town, killing his parents."

"But then wouldn't Sonic become vengeful against him as well?"

"You'd think so, but no. His own mother, before dying, told him to use his powers for good and not do the same thing she did. So Sonic's been at it with Robotnik ever since, trying to just get him to stop rather than killing him outright. After that, he let him go, and there wasn't anything I could do about it." He shook his head again. "At least not until later. Robotnik almost immediately got into a flying fortress, that thing we saw earlier, and I was the only one who knew it. I tried to hide it from them with distractions so that I could go kill him myself. But they came along anyway, and they had to, as the damn thing was going to blow up Angel Island. His vaporizer hit the Master Emerald, the big one, by accident. The rest of the story, you all saw it," he concluded, throwing up his arms. "I hope the main concern is just as obvious to you as it is to me, sir."

The SAIC held his chin. "Quite a story you had there. Yes, I think I see the problem as well."

"We have no idea if Robotnik really is dead after his fortress sunk," Doherty pointed out. "Now I don't know what Sonic and the rest were doing flying there, but all I know is this. We have to assume Robotnik is alive, and we cannot let the same damn situation between them happen on Earth during their stay here."

"How do you suppose we do that?"

"We do what they've said. Try and find out where he is now and bring him in. In the meantime, I can convince them to do things our way here. That it's for the best. They still trust me, despite what's happened."

"And what about…their accommodation?"

"Let them live at my place. Trust me, sir. If they're going to be stuck here, might as well be somewhere we can keep an eye on them. Besides, they have nowhere else to settle down. They don't know anyone else, and there's no way they'll stay on that floating rock with Knuckles. They're…not that kind of people."

Doherty's boss placed a hand to his forehead. "I'll have to call the Director and at least a few dozen other people for that, Alan."

"You do that. But temporarily, at least, this can't be such a bad idea. I can tell they're tired right now, and as much as they like running around, they still need a place to sleep." He placed a hand above the other on the desk. "One night, sir. Let's give it a try. I've never asked for much, but I think this'll be worth it. And not to mention, it's only fair that I, and we all, return the favor to them."

McLaughlin crossed his arms on the desk, looking away from Doherty and at his bare desk. After being silent for a minute, he gave his response. "Very well. I trust your judgment. For the moment, at least, I'll leave them to you. But we both will still have to answer a lot of questions."

Alan got up from the chair. "Thank you, sir. I'll make it work. Believe me. And don't worry about publicity, I'll keep it down. Although frankly, I'm pretty sure my name had already appeared all over the news after that night," he said while brushing his hair.

"It did, but are you sure you can handle it if that constantly happens?"

"As long as my face doesn't show up everywhere, I'll be fine," Doherty answered before stopping abruptly, as he realized he had forgotten about something incredibly important. He couldn't believe he didn't ask about that first. "Sir, I have one more question."

"What is it?"

"How's Cheryl and Alicia?" he asked, suddenly sounding very worried.

"Oh, they're fine," McLaughlin said casually. "I spoke with them this morning, actually, assured them that we were doing everything we could, and that there was a chance you were still alive." He smiled. "Want to give them a call now?"

"That'd be great, thanks," Alan replied with a smile of his own, but it faded as he was reminded of yet something else. "Actually, speaking of phones, there's one more thing, sir."

"Go ahead."

Doherty brought out his own cell phone. Its remaining battery power was low, but sufficient. Checking it for a while to confirm its contents were still there, he let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding before handing it over to his boss. "I did some research on their equivalent of the internet while I was there. Took some pictures. Some evidence on how their world is like."

McLaughlin looked through the photos, which appeared to be that of a computer screen, showing information after information about a whole other civilization that existed out there somewhere. He looked back up at his subordinate with an expression of wonder. "You do realize the significance of what you've just given me here?"

"I do, sir, which is why I did it." Alan took his phone back gently. "But before that, I have something else important to do on this phone…if you don't mind."

* * *

><p>On a couch in a lounge downstairs, Tails had fallen asleep again on Sonic's shoulder, and the hedgehog himself was barely able to keep himself awake. The events of both today and yesterday had taken their toll, and although the magazines and newspapers seemed rather interesting, it wasn't enough to prevent their snoozing. A number of agents stood around, keeping watch on them with folded arms and emotionless faces.<p>

The glass door near the couch opened with Alan Doherty walking in. Sonic, who was on the brink of joining his friend in sleepy land, immediately forgot all about his tiredness as he sat up to see the human coming up to him. The sudden movement also caused the fox to wake up groggily again. "Hey! So how'd it go?" he asked curiously before turning to Tails, who was rubbing his eyes. "Sorry, bud."

"Okay, I guess," Alan answered. He shook his head roughly, as he himself wasn't exactly feeling energetic too. "Hey guys," he asked the other agents present, "my car's still in the same place, right?"

"It is. We just left it there," one of them confirmed.

"Thanks a lot," Doherty said as he felt the car keys he'd just collected in his pocket. "Alright, you two," he called out while walking towards the door, "follow me."

"Where to?" Sonic asked as he and Tails got off the couch.

Alan turned to face them as he held the door open. "Home."

A few minutes later, Sonic and Tails were riding in a car again, this time in the backseat of Alan's Chrysler. They didn't expect their second time being in a car to come so soon, though they didn't complain, as it was far more comfortable than the FBI van.

Ironically, it was Tails who couldn't sit still rather than Sonic, as the fox, ever curious about new technology, was glancing around the beige interior. Then he stared at the center console next to Alan. "I should have sat in the front seat," he remarked.

"I'm more than willing to talk to you about this car," Alan said, having noticed Tails' behavior. "Although, you better be prepared to do something similar."

"Hmm? What do you-" Tails stopped before realizing it. "You mean the Tornado?"

"Exactly. My boss called the airport manager, who says you can keep the plane there for one night, and there'll be people to watch over it, but for one night only. After that, you'll be flying it to Edwards Air Force Base. I'll show you where it is later."

"I'll have to show it to the military?"

"Of course, but most of the people looking at it will be scientists. The way your plane is powered is something they've tried to achieve for decades, so they're naturally going to want to know all about it. I really hope you don't mind. And besides, if you want to continue flying it, the Air Force will be able to help you with its maintenance. It's a lot better than salvaging from a junkyard. Speaking of which, they are also going to be really curious how you, or the plane, managed to evade all those satellites and radars completely."

"Huh, um, okay," Tails replied, sounding uncertain. "I've never done anything like that before. Showing off the plane, or whatever I've created, that is." He looked at Sonic. "What do you think?"

"I can go there with you, if you want, just in case," Sonic assured. "Besides, you've said you'd like to able to showcase what you've developed publicly one day, rather than keeping it all to yourself. This could be your chance, Tails."

The fox considered it silently before replying. "Yeah, I guess."

"We kinda owe them an explanation anyway, since otherwise they're gonna be pretty scared of us," Sonic added with a smirk.

"Alright, we're finally here," Doherty announced as he pulled up in front of the two-storey house – a most welcome sight to his eyes. He took out a remote controller from a storage compartment and opened up the garage door before driving in. After the large black sedan had entered completely, he closed the door. "Okay, I'd like you to stay in the car for a while until I call you out," he said as he took off his seatbelt and turned off the engine. "Oh yeah, I forgot about this just now. Here, Tails," he said, taking out a small familiar object from his left pocket and tossing it to the fox, who caught it in his hands. It was his wrist computer.

"Thanks," he said gratefully. "We'll wait here."

Alan stepped out of the car, rather excited to see his wife and daughter again. He reached the door, opened it, and entered the living room, walking a few steps. Sure enough, the two ladies were standing there with a mixed expression of shock and happiness. They had suspected that only one person could drive that car into their garage, but they didn't believe it until now.

"My god, Alan!" Cheryl practically leaped into her husband's arms, who expected it and caught her, firmly wrapping his arms around her body. "I know I talked to you over the phone, but I still couldn't believe it until-"

"Hey, I'm here now," Alan said quietly. "I'm okay. And, uh, quite hungry, actually." That elicited a laugh from the straight-haired, forty-two-year old woman.

"Dad, I'm so glad you're back," Alicia said in relief, walking up to her father. He let go of Cheryl and hugged her teenage daughter. He wanted to pick her up, but reminded himself that she'd already left high school. She was years too old for that.

"I've already cooked, it's all on the table," Cheryl happily said, "come on. We haven't eaten in a while too."

"Thanks, Cheryl. Although to be honest, I have something really important to tell you. Or show you, rather."

"What is it?" Both of them looked curious.

"Before that, I want you to keep your surprised exclamations to a minimum. I know how loud you ladies can get," he said, unable to resist a smile.

"A souvenir? Something we'll like?" Alicia wondered out loud, already sounding a bit excited.

The smile vanished. "I'm not sure I'll say that…yeah, I don't want to waste time anymore. One moment." He turned and walked to the garage, through the door and disappeared to the right. A moment later, he walked back into the living room, and behind him was…they couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"My God!" Cheryl exclaimed, "is that, I mean, isn't that what-who we saw on TV?"

"One of the guys who saved the airport hostages!" Alicia chimed in, her voice already rising in pitch.

"Hey, ma'ams," Sonic the Hedgehog greeted. It occurred to him that this was the first time he was seeing human women face-to-face. "Looking good, both of you," he added with a grin.

"Wow! He talks!" Cheryl and Alicia practically screamed. "Nice to meet you!" The older woman added in a slightly lower voice, extending her hand to the hedgehog.

"Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog," he introduced himself proudly as he took the human teenager's hand. "And this here is-" As he turned around, he realized his friend wasn't there. "Aw, come on, bud, is it really that scary?"

Another figure's head slowly appeared at the garage door. Sonic gestured to him to come over, and after some hesitation, the small two-tailed fox finally came out. Where Sonic had strode in confidently earlier, Tails moved slowly and shyly with his hands behind him, though he tried to keep eye contact with these two rather loud women as he approached them. His twin tails waved around just as hesitantly to his sides.

"Oh," they said. "Hey, there! Aren't you a cute one?" Alicia remarked as she got closer to the orange-yellow fox, trying hard not to squeal.

Tails, meanwhile, was trying hard not to blush. He was failing miserably. "H-hi," he managed to speak, reaching his own hand out. "I'm Miles Prower, but my friends call me Tails." He reminded himself that he would need to get used to saying that more often.

Alicia shook the gloved hand enthusiastically. Her smile was warm and pleasant. "Nice to meet you too. Miles Prower, huh? Cute name for a cute guy!"

The fox's face turned even redder while his other hand reached to the back of his head, rubbing it. "T-Thanks. A lot. No one's ever…no one's ever said that to me before."

"That's kinda hard to believe!" she replied in astonishment. To the side, Sonic was snickering at the scene.

"Alright, both of you," Alan spoke up after observing how first contact went between the mobians and his family, which was better than he expected. "I'd like you to meet my wife Cheryl and my daughter Alicia. You're going to live with us for the time being," he stated matter-of-factly.

"Oh, really?" Sonic said with a smile. "That's nice of you. Thanks a lot."

"It's the least I could do, giving you what you gave me on Mobius. I hope it's okay with you two as well," he said to his wife and daughter.

"Oh, no problem, we can manage. So they're the guys you met while you were away, huh? Wow," Cheryl remarked. "Let's hear about it over dinner, then! I think we have enough for two more. If not, I'll just cook an extra share."

"Could I help?" Tails asked, almost as a reflex action. He didn't realize it until the words actually came out, and it made him freeze.

"Oh? You know how to cook?" Cheryl asked. She didn't sound skeptical or questioning, just curious.

Tails felt himself locking up. _Oh, why did I say that?_

"He does," Alan answered, solving the fox's problem. "Believe me, his chili dogs and ham…they're great."

"Oh, really? That's nice. I've never cooked chili dogs before. Could you show me?" she asked Tails politely.

"Um, okay, sure, I'll be glad to," he replied softly before smiling himself.

"Well, let's go!" Sonic said. "I just realized we never had dinner too, so the timing's just right. By the way, smooth move there, bro," he told Tails with a wink.

"Oh, whatever, Sonic," Tails answered with a dismissive wave and chuckle.

"Actually, Sonic, could I have a word with you for a while?" Alan asked. "The rest of you go first, it'll just be a minute."

"Okay, dad," Alicia said before walking across the living room to the dining room, following Cheryl and Tails.

"What is it?" Sonic inquired. He had a feeling this was about something a bit more serious.

"Look, uh…" Alan began, closing his eyes briefly, "despite everything's that's happened, I want you to know that I, my colleagues and the country are grateful to you, Tails and Knuckles for what you did in the airport. I know it probably wasn't easy to get all the way here from where you all ended up in."

"No prob," the hedgehog replied casually, "we'd do it all over again."

"That's nice of you, but that's also what I want to address," Doherty said, his tone becoming more somber. "You don't…we would prefer that it doesn't have to happen all over again. Robotnik's likely still out there. When he's found, he will go to prison, and that's the end of that." He knelt down to face Sonic at eye level. "Are we clear? He will still be alive and in a secure position where you can talk to him and we can give him a proper mental evaluation. Is that fine with you?"

Sonic shrugged. "As long as we don't have to kill him, it's good. I can accept it, and I'm sure Tails will too."

Alan stood up again, looking calmer after hearing Sonic's answer. "Thank you for your understanding."

"Likewise, Alan. Likewise," Sonic said in return before returning to his usual joyful state. "Anyway, I'd like to eat, and maybe get some rest. You coming?"

"Soon. I think we've got a room for you two. You go first."

"Sure thing." And with that, Sonic started to head towards the dining room. He wasn't running though, as he knew better than to do that in a small house like this.

Alan opened the front door and walked through it. He stopped just short of the patio's steps before looking upwards, staring at the night sky. Still no moon, but the stars were in abundance. Maybe one of them was Mobius?

He sighed, though he wasn't sure what for. Regret? Relief? Perhaps both. It didn't really have to turn out like this, but at the same time, could have gone much worse. The next few years were going to be very interesting indeed, and he hoped Earth would only get the best out of its first extraterrestrial guests, hopefully including even Robotnik. If he counted as one. _No_, he thought someone sadly, _that kind of behavior isn't from outer space_.

He let the fact that they were his responsibility now sink in. Sonic and Tails would undoubtedly do what they could to help the world, and he hoped he could lead by example on how to do so, and to give it back to them.

Special Agent Alan Doherty turned around and walked back into his home, closing the door. His work had only just begun.

* * *

><p>The waves hitting this beach were rather strong tonight, as was the wind, which fiercely blew the leaves of the coconut trees. It seemed like an ideal tourist spot, and it would have been one, if not for the fact that it was located to the northeastern part of the Republic of Adabat, an area considered to be under the de facto control of the Adabat Revolutionary Army, even if the government sternly denied it. As such, it would have remained isolated even during the afternoon.<p>

This was why when what seemed like an unidentified, advanced vehicle of some sort washed up on the beach, there was only one group that would have ever discovered it.

The first signs of life in the area came in the form of headlights of the approaching cars on the nearby road. Hardly any civilians ever drove through here due to how worn out it was, though it did not pose a problem for the ARA Jeeps and Land Cruisers that were about to pass by the beach as part of a routine patrol to defend against government troops or police.

"_¡Espere!_" the man riding shotgun in the front vehicle ordered. "What is that thing there?" He pointed at the large object on the beach. "Drive over there. Guerrez will not tolerate unauthorized visitors here. Let's check it out."

"_Sí__,_" the driver said obediently. He drove the Cherokee off the worn road and onto the sand while radioing those behind him to do the same.

The SUVs stopped around the strange large object at the edge of the water. It was grey and blocky in shape, with what appeared to be a slanted window in front. A craft of some sort, large enough to fit several full-sized men. Also noteworthy was how its surfaces appeared to be heavily charred.

The men got out of their vehicles and walked towards the craft with their AK-47s slung behind them. Was there anyone in this thing?

They got their answer as a loud, mechanical sound was suddenly heard, coming from the back of the craft, facing the ocean. Alarmed, the troops immediately brought their rifles up and aimed at the sides of the vehicle.

Circling it slowly, they walked around it until the rear was visible, stepping into the strong waves in the process. A door of some sort seemed to be opening up. They did their best to steady their weapons at whoever was coming out. It took a while before a large, obese figure fell out and collapsed into the water, almost causing them to fire. As they realized that the person here seemed familiar, they approached him slowly, their weapons still raised.

Doctor Ivo Robotnik's head hurt, and it wasn't helped by the saltwater he was now in. Still weak from having just regained consciousness and amazed by how he was still alive, he struggled to get up as he placed his hands onto the sand and pressed against it.

After finally standing up, he took several deep breaths while holding the wound on his head. He slowly looked around to discover that he wasn't alone.

"_¡Dios mío!_" the ARA members exclaimed. "Isn't he the man who appeared on the news? Thought he was dead."

"Guess he managed to escape," another said, "_Hombre afortunado_."

"Who the hell are you people?" Robotnik asked, trying to sound assertive despite being completely at their mercy with no way to fight back.

"We are the Adabat Revolutionary Army," one of them, a tall, dark-skinned thirty-year-old replied in accented English. "You are in our territory. You are to come with us to meet our leader. I do not believe you have a choice," he continued in a flat tone.

Realizing that it was true, Robotnik sighed as he nodded. "Fine," he replied in annoyance. "But give me a moment. I need to get something," He climbed back into the craft.

A minute later, he re-emerged from it with each hand holding what seemed like steel briefcases. He noticed them eyeing him suspiciously. "Oh come on. Certainly I can pack a few things for myself."

"We will take them for you," the same man said before saying something to the others in Spanish. Two goons approached Robotnik and took the briefcases from his hand, each carrying one. They found that they were rather heavy. "Our vehicles are here," the man continued. "We must leave this place and your craft here before anyone else arrives."

"Good idea," Robotnik agreed, although not for the same reason as they thought. Escorted away from the detached fortress' bridge, he was pleasantly surprised to discover he could fit in the backseat of one of the SUVs despite his size.

After the vehicles started up and drove away from the craft, the men heard a loud noise from behind. They saw in the rearview mirrors a massive fireball swallowing the craft whole. Dr. Robotnik simply smirked at them in response.

* * *

><p>The ride lasted for a while, with the SUVs driving deep into a jungle on narrow, muddy, routes. Eventually, they got out of the vehicles and had to proceed on foot, which took another five minutes. Throughout the whole journey, the ARA goons did not cease pointing their pistols at Robotnik, who seemed unfazed by this.<p>

They eventually reached the steep side of a hill with a small wooden door. They stopped for a moment to say something in Spanish, likely a codeword, before the door opened. Robotnik was concerned for a moment that he wouldn't fit through, but it was just wide enough.

The interior of the place was a poorly lit but spacious cave, filled with weapons caches and wooden tables with food and CB radios on them. On the walls hung black-and-white portraits of vaguely familiar looking faces. As Robotnik was escorted through the area, he managed to recall that they were that of Marx and Lenin. _Who are you people?_ he did not say out loud.

The fat doctor earned stares from all of the men sitting and standing around. He ignored them. Finally, his escorts brought him to a bearded, black-haired man with a scar on his face, who was sitting on a simple stool in the far side of the room, discussing something with a few others next to him before looking up at their unexpected guest. Robotnik could tell from the positioning of his 'throne' relative to the rest of the room, the way he was dressed in some sort of uniform, and how he was talking with the others that he was in charge.

The dark-skinned escort informed the leader of what had happened. After he finished, the man stood up to reveal his height of six feet three. He eyed the fat doctor while stroking his beard. "You are the man from the news? From…the emerald?" he asked in clear English.

"You could say that, I suppose," Robotnik answered. "Where is this?"

"This is our hidden base of operations. I am Alfonso Guerrez, leader of the Adabatian revolution," he said, holding out a hand. His guest held it firmly in his own and shook it.

"Doctor Ivo Robotnik," the fat man said in return. "Revolution?" he inquired curiously.

"Yes," Guerrez replied. "This government has to go. This country only has room for either us, or them. It's non-negotiable," he added, firmness creeping into his voice. "And if I'm right, you seem like someone who can help."

"Well, that depends," Robotnik said, staring at his host. "What do you think you're right about?"

"You developed that spaceship and everything on it on your own, did you not? In that case, you are a mechanical genius. Not to mention the fact that you seem to know much about these emeralds, one of which we tried to obtain several days ago. You must be aware of its immense power, just like we found out over the last few months."

Robotnik decided not to say that the hidden base turned fortress was actually created by Extro, but he did modify it and the others he had rather substantially, so he could still get credit for that. "That's right."

"And this briefcase of yours," Guerrez added, "they must contain something advanced, yes?"

The briefcases had combination locks on them, so they could not open them to check their contents. "Allow me," Robotnik said as he took them, daring to sound a little pompous.

He put in the combinations, causing them to pop open. One contained an inactive computer terminal, a laptop of some sort, where areas the other was what something the others had never seen before. It was undoubtedly something advanced, with a digital readout in the top left corner of the otherwise smooth, steel surface, labeled 'remaining charge' displaying: 99.75%.

"Extracted emerald energy," he said with a slight bit of pride. "It's what I used for my fortress."

The room fell silent as the men looked at each other. Guerrez walked up closer to Robotnik. "Join us," he told him.

The doctor almost laughed in response. "What? Why? What's in it for me?"

"Think about it. You have nowhere else to go, not after what you did in LA. If you appeared in public anywhere, even if that hedgehog doesn't hunt you down, the United States certainly will. No one else knows for sure that you are alive. With us, your survival remains a secret. And we have a vacancy. Our best technicians have been killed recently. You seem a more than qualified replacement. You will have a place among us to do what you are good at."

Robotnik paused to think. The man had made some good points. He would be a lot freer here than anywhere else, as it was unlikely he could really disguise himself given his weight. And they seemed to have already planned to accept him. It was actually a very fortunate offer.

_If it really is an offer_, he added. This base was clearly supposed to be secret. They were probably not going to let him go now.

He held out his hand this time, and Guerrez shook it with a smile. "Good answer, _amigo_. I believe this will work out well for us."

_Oh, it will_, Doctor Ivo Robotnik thought, putting on his own grin. _But for me most of all_.


End file.
